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#Teachers #union files lawsuit over #Trump’s crackdown on race, #DEI in #schools
A new lawsuit accuses Trump #Education Department of trying to rewrite #CivilRights #law when it threatened to pull federal school #funding over mentions of #race.
https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AFT-ASA-v-Dept-of-Ed-et-al.pdf
The guidance from the #Trump #Education Department’s Office for #CivilRights was sent as a “Dear Colleague” letter to school officials throughout the country Feb. 14. It threatened to deny federal #funding to any #school or #college that considers #race in hiring, #discipline policy, #scholarships, prizes or any other aspect of campus life. It gave schools a 2-week deadline to comply, setting off confusion & panic on campuses nationwide.
The suit asks a federal district court in Maryland to ban the #Education dept from acting on these #threats, saying the letter is an #unconstitutional infringement on #FreeSpeech & a twisting of long-standing anti-#discrimination #law. It was filed by the American Federation of #Teachers, its MD affiliate & the American Sociological Association, working w/Democracy Forward, which has filed several suits challenging #Trump admin actions.
“This Letter is an #unlawful attempt by the Department to impose this administration’s particular views of how #schools should operate as if it were the #law,” the suit says.
The letter & the lawsuit represent polar opposite interpretations of the 1964 #CivilRights Act, which bars #discrimination on the basis of #race in federally funded programs.
#CivilRights advocates & the plaintiffs argue the #law is meant to level the playing field, counter #discrimination & boost opportunity for people who have historically experienced discrimination. Work promoting #diversity, #equity & #inclusion furthers the law’s intent.
But under #Trump’s interpretation, these efforts are seen as #unlawful discrimination themselves because they consider #race. It relies in part on the 2023 #SCOTUS decision outlawing race consideration in college admissions.