By Andrew Chung
(Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to allow it to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for teacher training as part of his sweeping crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives – a policy challenged by eight Democratic-led states.
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.
The states – California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin – accused the department 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 Education 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.”
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 decision.
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 pledged to dismantle the Education Department as part of their plan to slash government spending and the size of the federal workforce.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
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