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By Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat
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Federal judges responding to three lawsuits have temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its demands that schools end practices associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The injunctions come the same day that the Education Department had set as a deadline for states to certify compliance with the Trump administration’s contested interpretation of civil rights law – or risk their federal funding.
Taken together, the injunctions block the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from states that don’t sign the certification demand and block enforcement of a February Dear Colleague letter in which the Education Department first laid out its new interpretations of civil rights law.
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New Hampshire U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty issued a preliminary injunction Thursday in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the National Education Association, its New Hampshire chapter, and the Center for Black Educator Development.
McCafferty declined to block the Trump administration’s enforcement efforts nationwide. Rather, the injunction blocks the Education Department from withholding federal funds from any school district or other government entity that employs teachers represented by the NEA or associated with the Center for Black Educator Development.
“Today’s ruling allows educators and schools to continue to be guided by what’s best for students, not by the threat of illegal restrictions and punishment,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in a statement.
Shortly afterward, a separate order was issued in a lawsuit brought on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers, the other national teachers union, its Maryland chapter, and an Oregon school district.
Maryland U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher said the Education Department did not follow proper procedures in developing new civil rights rules. The February Dear Colleague letter in which the administration first described how it would enforce civil rights laws represented a substantial enough change, Gallagher wrote, that it should have gone through a more formal rule-making process.
However, Gallagher denied a request for an injunction against the certification demand, saying that the plaintiffs had not laid out enough facts in the case to show they had a strong chance of prevailing in their larger lawsuit.
In a third case brought by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich issued a nationwide injunction against the certification request but declined to issue an injunction against the Dear Colleague letter.
The differing decisions and the enforcement patchwork they could create are representative of the confusing legal landscape that has developed since President Donald Trump took office.
Nonetheless, Allison Scharfstein, an attorney with the Legal Defense Fund, said she felt the confident that the “patchwork of relief” would block the Education Department from pursuing its new approach to enforcement while the lawsuits continue.
On April 3, the U.S. Department of Education told state education agencies that they must certify they are in compliance with the administration’s interpretation of federal civil rights law.
States that don’t sign will lose their federal funding, including Title I dollars that provide critical resources for high-poverty schools, the department said.
The certification requirement followed a February Dear Colleague letter in which the Education Department told school leaders that the department’s Office for Civil Rights would be enforcing federal anti-discrimination requirements through the lens of the Students for Fair Admissions case.
That Supreme Court decision banned the use of race in college admissions. The Education Department’s civil rights division said the decision means practices such as trying to recruit more teachers of color or diversify magnet school enrollment could also represent illegal discrimination.
In lawsuits originally filed against the Dear Colleague letter, educators said the new guidance was so vague that it was nearly impossible to tell what was and wasn’t allowed. They also said the guidance goes against established law and decades of civil rights precedent.
Those lawsuits were later expanded to ask courts to block the certification requirement.
The Trump administration has signaled that states should take its threats to withhold funding seriously. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Department of Education is moving to strip K-12 aid from Maine following an investigation under Title IX — the federal law banning sex discrimination in education — into the state’s policy for transgender athletes.
Nonetheless, at least 16 states, most of them led by Democrats, already have said they do not intend to sign because their states already comply with civil rights laws, and they don’t believe the administration’s new interpretation is legal.
Another 16 states and the territory of Puerto Rico have signed the letter, according to a tracker maintained by Education Week. Some school districts are changing their practices in response. For example, one Indiana school district ended a program giving contracting preferences to minority-owned and local businesses.
This story has been updated to reflect a third preliminary injunction was issued.
Erica Meltzer is Chalkbeat’s national editor based in Colorado. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
