Coalition moves for injunction stopping Trump administration’s actions to dismantle the Department of Education

Washington, D.C. — Today, in the case of NAACP v. US, the coalition of plaintiffs and supporters are moving for a preliminary injunction preventing Linda McMahon and the Trump administration from continuing their unlawful actions to dismantle the Department of Education.   

Those actions include the Department’s announcement yesterday that it planned to withhold nearly $6.8 billion in appropriated education formula funding from states, almost all of which supports students through their local school districts. That illegal decision, like the other steps this administration has taken to shut down the Department, is unlawful and will harm students and families across the country. 

The case was brought in March by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), public school parents, the National Education Association (NEA), and AFSCME Maryland Council 3. They are supported by Student Defense and Education Law Center (ELC). Today's filing asks the Court to block multiple unlawful actions the administration has taken that harm students, schools and communities across the country. Those actions include:   

• Terminating grants that support the recruitment and retention of teachers and other education professionals in high needs schools and school districts by way of the elimination, without Congressional approval, of the Teacher Quality Partnership, Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED), and School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Programs, among many others. These programs supported students and educators and met critical needs in schools across the country. They have now been unlawfully shut down.   
   
• Eliminating the Department’s capacity to award the correct amounts of federal formula grant aid to high needs schools and districts through the ESEA Title I programs, the rural school supports program under REAP, and other critical federal education programs in future school years. Defendants’ abolition of the Institute of Education Sciences and other critical Department offices leaves the Department unable to produce the data inputs and carry out other functions necessary to accurately calculate schools’ and districts’ federal funding awards after this year.
   
• Gutting the vendor oversight and institutional accountability functions in the Office of Federal Student Aid, which had exercised the critical oversight necessary to make Congressionally mandated student loan forgiveness programs, like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, work and which certified schools’ eligibility to participate in federal student financial aid programs by ensuring that college and universities actually provide the services that they advertise.
   
• Shuttering seven of the twelve regional enforcement offices of the Office for Civil Rights, terminating over half that Office’s investigative workforce, and doubling and even tripling the caseloads of the remaining investigators so as to effectively eliminate OCR’s ability to timely respond to, and remedy, civil rights complaints filed by students, parents, and educators.   

Today’s filing is supported by record evidence in excess of 1,000 pages, including over 60 individual declarations in support of the plaintiffs’ claims and in opposition to the devastation wrought by the defendants. Declarants include Former Secretaries of Education Miguel Cardona and John King, Former Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon, former Institute for Education Sciences Director John Easton, and many more. In addition, school communities and districts are in support of the motion, including the Lemon Grove School District in CA.  

The motion seeks a remedy for the serious harm that the Trump Administration has inflicted on students, educators, schools, and colleges and universities, and asks the Court to direct the Department to fulfill its statutory obligations to students nationwide. 

# # 

About the National Education Association 

The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org  

About the NAACP 

The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities. NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity. 

About AFSCME Maryland Council 3 
AFSCME Maryland Council 3 represents more than 50,000 public service workers in local, city, county and state government as well as in higher education and the private sector who provide the valuable public services that our communities rely on. From Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, we make Maryland happen. 

About Education Law Center 

Education Law Center pursues justice and equity for public school students by enforcing their right to a high-quality education in safe, equitable, non-discriminatory, integrated, and well funded learning environments. We seek to support and improve public schools as the center of communities and the foundation of a multicultural and multiracial democratic society. To achieve these goals, we engage in litigation, research and data analysis, policy advocacy, communications, and strategic partnerships and collaborations. https://edlawcenter.org/ 

About Student Defense 

The National Student Legal Defense Network (“Student Defense”) is a non-profit organization that works, through litigation and advocacy, to advance students' rights to educational opportunity and to ensure that higher education provides a launching point for economic mobility.