Multiple orders from judges across the country issued on Thursday have halted the Trump administration’s plans to strip funding from schools that engage in on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts after cases were brought forth by civil rights groups and the country’s largest teachers’ union.
The cases came after the Department of Education's "Dear Colleague" letter in February urging compliance with federal law related to anti-discrimination. Schools receiving federal funding would be required, starting this month, to turn over information showing that they are complying with the administration’s ban on DEI.
Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama-appointed judge for the US District for the District of New Hampshire, granted a preliminary injunction requested by the National Education Association (NEA) teachers' union, per Politico. McCafferty partially blocked the Department of Education from enforcing its February letter. She wrote that the memo "does not even define what a DEI program is," pointing to "vague and expansive prohibitions" in the DOE's letter.
"Ours is a nation deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned," The judge wrote, per ABC News. She added that the "right to speak freely and to promote diversity of ideas and programs is…one of the chief distinctions that sets us apart from totalitarian regimes."
"In this case, the court reviews action by the executive branch that threatens to erode these foundational principles." McCafferty’s ruling applies to institutions that receive federal funding and employ or contract with the NEA or its members.
US District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher of Maryland, a Trump appointee, issued a ruling in a case brought forth by the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers’ union in the country, that blocks the Department of Education from using federal funding to end DEI initiatives within schools. She ruled that the February "Dear Colleague" letter from the Department of Education likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
Gallagher wrote, "This Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue here are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair. But this Court is constitutionally required to closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. The government did not."
Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee in the District of Columbia, blocked the department from enforcing its certification deadline that it had given to schools to come into compliance with the Administration. She said this likely violated the Constitution. The deadline for states to certify their compliance was Thursday, the New York Times reported.
Each ruling is temporary as the cases play out in courts.
