The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and American Sociological Association (ASA) filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration over its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in schools.
The lawsuit specifically targets a Feb. 14 memo released by the Department of Education (ED) threatening to revoke federal funding from schools that do not halt all racially discriminatory practices and programs. AFT, the country’s second-largest teachers union, and ASA claim the letter “misrepresents” the law surrounding schools’ ability to use race as a factor in decision making.
“This Letter radically upends and re-writes otherwise well-established jurisprudence,” the suit argues. “No federal law prevents teaching about race and race-related topics, and the Supreme Court has not banned efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. The Department of Education (“Department”) is attempting to establish a new legal regime when it has neither the lawmaking power of Congress nor the interpretative power of the courts. ”
“The Letter suggests, however, that a wide variety of core instruction, activities, and programs that schools, from pre-kindergarten through post-graduate education, use to teach and support their students now constitute illegal discrimination,” the lawsuit continues.
The education department’s letter reminded schools that “discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is, has been, and will continue to be illegal.”
“The Letter appears to ban all programming in support of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”), again despite the fact that such programming is lawful and previous presidential administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden have supported such efforts,” the lawsuit states. “Finally, despite invoking the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on college admissions, the Letter goes well beyond that holding and states that many legal, evidence-based, and well-accepted ways to foster inclusivity and increase diversity of all types are nevertheless considered discriminatory by this administration.”
The unions are asking the court to declare the department’s letter unlawful and unconstitutional.
President Donald Trump has worked to root out DEI and other radical topics from schools and federal agencies, signing several executive orders banning the federal funding of such topics. Many school leaders have refused to comply with Trump’s orders, however, vowing to continue teaching radical and discriminatory topics.
The Biden administration injected millions of taxpayer funds into topics such as “LGBTQ inclusion” and “anti-racism and anti-oppression” into schools. Former President Joe Biden’s education department also attempted to redefine Title IX, which protects women from discrimination, to include gender identity, thereby allowing men to use women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and participate in women’s sports.
AFT, ASA and the ED did not immediately respond to the Daily caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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