On Wednesday, the Trump administration requested that the U.S. Supreme Court permit it to reduce funding by hundreds of millions of dollars for teacher training, as part of its broader effort to target diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. This policy is being contested by eight states led by Democrats.
The Justice Department filed a request asking the court to lift Boston-based U.S. District Judge Myong Joun’s March 10 order requiring the Department of Education to restore grants awarded in those states through two federal programs to train educators and develop their skills.
This request marks the latest attempt by the administration to seek intervention from the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, following a series of lower court rulings that have hindered Trump’s policies. Also pending before the nation’s highest judicial body are Trump’s bids to curb birthright citizenship and fire thousands of probationary federal workers.
Illegally Slashing Grants
States including California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin accused the Department of Education of illegally slashing grants that Congress had established as a solution to critical teacher shortages, especially in rural and underserved communities.
The cuts effectively ended the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development grant programs, the states said.
On February 17, the department announced that it had cut $600 million in teacher training funds that were promoting what it called “divisive ideologies”, including DEI.
Grant recipients received a standardized letter notifying them that the department does not support programs or organizations that promote DEI “or any other initiatives that unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or another protected characteristic”.
In Wednesday’s filing, the Justice Department said that in this case and others, federal judges are impermissibly micromanaging the government’s spending decisions.
These judges, the department said, are “exceeding their jurisdiction by ordering the Executive Branch to restore lawfully terminated grants across the government, keep paying for programs that the Executive Branch views as inconsistent with the interests of the United States, and send out the door taxpayer money that may never be clawed back”.
Joun, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, said the administration’s cuts likely violated a law governing federal agency actions, given that the department abruptly terminated all funding without providing individualized analysis of any of the programs.
Without an order to restore the funding, “dozens of programs upon which public schools, public universities, students, teachers, and faculty rely will be gutted,” Joun wrote in the temporary restraining order, which the judge extended on Monday.
Rights Groups Bat For DEI Programs
Civil rights groups and equality advocates have said DEI programs can help correct discrimination in a country where women and Black people did not achieve legal equality until the 20th century and continue to lag behind their white male counterparts in pay and opportunity.
Opponents of DEI have argued that such programs seek to remedy discrimination against minorities such as Black and Hispanic people by disadvantaging other groups, particularly white people.
Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk have moved to dismantle the Education Department as part of their plan to slash the federal workforce and reshape the government. Trump on March 20 signed an executive order as a first step “to eliminate” the department, making good on a longstanding campaign promise to conservatives. Completely abolishing the department would require an act of Congress, and Trump currently lacks the votes for that.
His order was designed to dismantle the department and leave education policy almost entirely in the hands of states and local school boards, a prospect that alarms liberal education advocates. Trump’s education secretary is former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon.
(With inputs from Reuters)
