(NewsNation) — School trips to the nation’s capital and events for military students are on the chopping block as the government shutdown enters its second week.
Pentagon-operated schools have canceled sporting events, dances and other extracurricular activities for more than 67,000 of America’s military kids through Department of Defense Education Activity programming.
Schools are calling off trips not just to the nation’s capital, but also national parks and memorials that will be at least partially shuttered until the government reopens.
Students from the International Leadership Academy in north Texas — all of whom are part of an ROTC-linked leadership program — were supposed to head to Washington this week as a reward for ranking in the top 4% of their class.
But now their meetings with lawmakers, military academy officials even the State Department have all been scrapped.
Their school says notifications of the shutdown cancellation came from the office of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and the State Department.
Federal facilities that host tours and student visits, including the Capitol Visitor Center, are closed until Congress strikes a deal.