State AGs seek to block Trump from targeting school anti-racism programs

BOSTON — A coalition of 20 state attorneys general has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over a threat to withhold federal funding for schools that implement anti-racist programs.

The suit, filed in Massachusetts on Friday, follows an April 3 letter from the department, currently headed by former WWE star Linda McMahon, instructing state and local agencies to sign a document that supports President Donald Trump’s agenda regarding public school programming.

The Trump administration has targeted programs it considers to fall under the umbrella term “diversity, equity and inclusion,” a phrase whose definition often shifts and broadens, depending on the point being made. On Thursday, a federal judge blocked his efforts to withhold funding from public schools that selected not to follow his administration’s lead.

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are legal efforts that help students feel safe, supported and respected. The Trump Administration’s threats to withhold critical education funding due to the use of these initiatives are not only unlawful, but harmful to our children, families, and schools,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a press release. “By filing this lawsuit, we seek to block any such reckless disruptions to our children’s education, and as attorney general and a mom, I will continue to hold the Administration accountable for illegal actions that harm our state.”

Several states, including Massachusetts, refused to certify their compliance with the Trump administration’s unorthodox interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal act meant to address issues that stem from the country’s historical racism and discrimination towards non-white men.

States and local agencies are routinely asked to provide written assurances that they will comply with Title VI, but the Department of Education’s decision to interpret the act this way is without merit, according to Campbell.

The funding the department seeks to withhold from Massachusetts includes $575.2 million in congressionally mandated support and another $302 million for funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the department’s April 3 letter “incoherent” and “entirely illogical” in a Friday press conference.

“It’s a tight soundbite Trump can use in his campaign,” he said.

The lawsuit is the 15th filed against the Trump administration by the coalition of attorneys general.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose state receives about $3 billion in federal school funding, called the department’s actions “shameful” and said McMahon cannot explain what exactly an “illegal DEI program is.”

“We will not allow this administration to hurt our students by taking away essential services they rely on,” she said.

In total, the department has threatened to withhold $13.8 billion from public schools, something states are unable to replace, Campbell wrote in her complaint.

The department’s new conditions placed on states are vague and confusing, Campbell argues, saying that the department has yet to truly define what it means when referencing “diversity, equity and inclusion.”

The department’s actions are “subjective and illegal punishment,” Campbell wrote in the complaint. She calls for an injunction to declare those actions unlawful and to bar the department from implementing the president’s policies.

Campbell says the department’s attempt to withhold funding violates the Constitution’s Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, separation of powers and the Administrative Procedures Act, which are common causes of action in several lawsuits targeting the Trump administration’s power grab of academia in the United States, which has set its focus on college campuses, as well.

Notably, Harvard fileda lawsuit against Trump’s administration, which also seeks to stop the president from cutting federal funding unless it complies with a list of demands, including installing administrators who are aligned with the White House’s political agenda.

In addition, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit earlier this week against the administration, seeking to stop the enforcement of Trump executive orders to bar transgender student athletes from participating in sports with a team of their same gender.

Campbell is joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.