Nineteen states sue over Trump threats to school funding

Bloomberg News

Nineteen states united to sue the Trump administration over its demand that public schools eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs or risk losing federal funding.

California Attorney Gen. Rob Bonta and state attorneys general in 18 other states including New York, Minnesota, Illinois and Massachusetts filed the lawsuit in federal court on Friday, just a day after the Trump administration deadline for state officials to collect certifications from school districts confirming all DEI efforts had been eliminated.

The state AGs sued the Department of Education, Secretary Linda McMahon and Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.

In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, the AGs argue that the U.S. Department of Education's attempt to terminate federal education funding "based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers, and the Administrative Procedures Act."

The lawsuit filed by Democratic attorneys general seeks to stop the DOE from withholding money based on its April 3 directive ordering states to certify their compliance with civil rights laws, and their rejection of what the federal government calls "illegal DEI practices."

Two weeks after sending out the letter, the Department of Education put out a fact sheet explaining its thinking in the matter. States had until April 24 to gather signatures from local systems certifying their compliance.

The directive alarmed many public school districts that rely on federal funding, including Chicago Public Schools.

The Trump administration has argued that DEI initiatives amount to illegal discrimination, an argument New York Attorney General Letitia James called a blatant misinterpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in a media briefing on Friday, that included James, Bonta and the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota.

"Education Secretary Linda McMahon cannot even explain what these illegal DEI policies are," James said. "When asked at her confirmation hearing what they are, she couldn't say. And if asked if a school teaching African-American history would lose funding, she could not say. That is not acceptable."

In defiance of the request by the Trump administration, school officials in the Democratic states said they were standing by their original certifications, which asked for a commitment to anti-discrimination programs.

The attorneys general on the press call ticked off potential federal funding losses in each of their states: $7.8 billion in California, $3 billion in New York, $1.4 billion in Illinois and $530 million in Minnesota, if the Trump administration carries through on its threat.

"The U.S. Department of Education is unapologetically abandoning its mission to ensure equal access to education with its latest threat to wholesale terminate congressionally mandated federal education funding," Bonta said.

The federal Department of Education is "using our nation's foundational civil rights law as a pretext to coerce states into abandoning efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through lawful programs and policies," Bonta said.

The other states involved in the lawsuit not yet mentioned are: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

The plaintiff states collectively receive over $18.7 billion of federal funding for education annually. Of that, $7.9 billion in Title I funding and $5.9 billion in Disabilities in Education Act funding are at particular risk, with each state "having a significant amount in immediate peril," the lawsuit says.

"The April 3 Agency Action is an unjustified interference with state and local control of education, which the Supreme Court has recognized as a 'deeply rooted tradition,'" the lawsuit states.

The state attorneys general also argue that the Every Student Succeeds Act conditions federal funding on state education agencies implementing various practices related to diversity, equity or inclusion. 

"The Trump administration is now attempting to illegally stop the allocation of these Congressionally mandated funds in order to push a vague, anti-DEI agenda at the expense of some of the most vulnerable children in Illinois and across the country," Illinois AG Kwame Raoul said. "I proudly stand with my fellow attorneys general to defend this important funding and help ensure that all children have access to a quality public education."

The lawsuit is the 15^th California has filed against the Trump administration since he took office in January. Bonta also joined with other states to challenge the clawback of pandemic-era funding for schools.

Moody's Ratings analysts said in an April 8 report the rapid policy shifts are creating credit risks for traditional K-12 and charter schools.

The DOE did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Jennifer Shea contributed to this report.