U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in a Thursday ruling permanently blocked two memos issued by the Trump administration that threatened schools with funding cuts for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Earlier in the year, the Trump administration issued a “Dear Colleague” letter for universities threatening to take funding if they don’t end “illegal” DEI efforts. Soon after, K-12 districts got a memo to certify they have no DEI practices in their schools.
The American Federation of Teachers, Democracy Forward and others sued over both of the memos, arguing the administration did not go through the proper procedures and violated the rights of schools.
“Plaintiffs have shown that neither challenged agency action was promulgated in accordance with the procedural requirements of the APA, and that both actions run afoul of important constitutional rights,” wrote Gallagher, who was appointed by President Trump.