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(CN) — Eight Democratic-led states took aim at the Trump administration on Thursday in a new federal lawsuit, accusing the Department of Education of illegally slashing more than $600 million in federal grants allocated for training teachers.
The department made the cuts last month as part of a broader effort from President Donald Trump to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and reduce federal spending. The Trump administration said the cut funding was going toward training teachers on “divisive ideologies” like anti-racism, which run afoul of the administration’s platform.
But the eight states claim the cuts unlawfully eradicate a pair of federal grant programs Congress greenlit to address nationwide teacher shortages.
“The termination of these previously-awarded grants was effectuated through form letters claiming the grants were no longer consistent with department priorities,” the states argue in the suit. “Although the termination letters themselves make reference to multiple vague department ‘priorities,’ they contain no facts explaining how or why any particular grant fails to conform to these priorities.”
The two grants at issue are the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development, established by Congress in 2008 and 2011, respectively, to recruit and train educators to work in high-need rural and urban school districts.
In the eight suing states alone, the total grant awards from these programs exceeded $250 million and supported thousands of teachers and tens of thousands of students, according to the lawsuit. Among the numerous programs that money went toward were programs that taught teachers second languages, recruited them to high-poverty schools and trained them on special education requirements.
The states say that cutting the funding would “destabilize local school systems” and worsen the nationwide teacher shortage. Additionally, the “sudden and unexpected” nature of the cuts could thrust public schools into chaos since their programmatic planning occurs years in advance.
“Without these programs, impacted rural and urban schools will have to resort to hiring long-term substitutes, teachers with emergency credentials, and unlicensed teachers on waivers,” the states claim. “This will harm the quality of instruction and can lead to increased numbers of students falling short of national standards.”
State attorneys general from California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin filed the lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, a Joe Biden appointee, is assigned to the case.
The coalition of states seeks a preliminary injunction to block the funding cuts.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on Thursday that slashing the grants “robs students of the opportunity to succeed and thrive.”
“The power of the purse belongs to Congress, and the Department of Education cannot unilaterally cut millions of dollars in funding for teachers and students who rely on it,” James said. “Kids in rural and underserved communities deserve access to a quality education, and programs like SEED and TQP help bring qualified teachers to classrooms that desperately need it.
It’s an argument that has frequently found itself in federal court over the past several months, as the executive branch — under the influence of billionaire Elon Musk and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency — looks to bypass Congress and slash approved federal funding by unprecedented amounts.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta slammed Trump over the trend at a news conference on Thursday.
“For those who have lost count, this is now the sixth time we’ve been forced to sue the president since he started his term six weeks ago,” Bonta said.
Bonta’s state stands to lose roughly $148 million if the cuts stand. He criticized the president for trying to go above the legislature to slash funding that has already been approved.
“Congress has decided this already,” Bonta said of the grants. “They’ve been awarded, and they’ve been obligated.”
Thursday’s lawsuit was the second to challenge the cutting of these education grants. On Monday, a trio of teacher education associations filed a claim in federal court in Maryland.
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