Federal court blocks attempt to withhold federal funding from schools employing DEI initiatives – JURIST
A federal judge in New Hampshire on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction in favor of teacher groups, blocking the Department of Education’s (DOE) attempt to withhold federal funding from schools that implement diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This represents a legal setback to the Trump administration’s effort to end DEI.
Judge Landya McCafferty concluded that the National Education Association, its New Hampshire affiliate, and the Center for Black Educator Development (“the plaintiffs”) are likely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit against the DOE, and that irreparable harm is likely to arise due to the DOE vague directives.
In so concluding, the court agreed with the plaintiffs that the DOE has presented policies against DEI initiatives, programs, and content that are vague and violate the parties’ First and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Education Department in a letter in February condemned DEI programs as discriminatory because they “frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not” and “stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes.”
The DOE letter also described its aim as explaining, among other things, “existing legal requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:”
In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from
disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families. These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination
have emanated throughout every facet of academia.
Pointing to the DOE letter as vague, McCafferty cited examples of self-censorship already underway at universities and in classrooms around the country. While the government argues in its defense that teachers are not prohibited from teaching certain books and historical topics on race and gender, the McCafferty concluded that the DOE’s threatening letter warning educators and educational institutions of “swift enforcement and harsh penalties,” creates an environment of self-censorship.
The injunction means that the DOE is prohibited enforcing the anti-DEI measures it outlined in the February letter and again in a press release issued the same month.
