Educators Sue to Challenge Trump Administration's Efforts to Weaponize Civil Rights Laws, Attack Educational Programs and Student Opportunities

AFT, AFT-Maryland, American Sociological Association File to Challenge Administration's ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter in Defense of Students Nationwide

Baltimore, Md.—A coalition of nationwide groups of educators and sociologists have filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter” that outlines a new policy threatening to withhold federal funding for any education institutions that do not comply by Feb. 28 with its unprecedented weaponization and undermining of civil rights laws. In addition to withholding funds, the letter also threatens educators and schools with potential investigations and prosecutions.

The suit, filed in federal court in Maryland, is brought by the AFT, AFT-Maryland and the American Sociological Association. The complaint challenges a “Dear Colleague” letter published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on Feb. 14, which threatened that federal funding would be withheld from education institutions that teach accurate history and lessons about slavery, diversity and inclusion, among other efforts. The complaint argues that the letter will do a disservice to students and ultimately the nation by weakening schools as portals to opportunity and incubators for creative, innovative and critical thinking.

“It’s our job as educators to foster opportunity, dignity and engagement. We create safe and welcoming classrooms where students are cared for and accepted. We teach the skills and knowledge they need to navigate a diverse and complex world. And we value critical thinking, which requires us to present history in an open and honest way,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “This vague and clearly unconstitutional memo is a grave attack on students, our profession and knowledge itself. It would hamper efforts to extend access to education, and dash the promise of equal opportunity for all, a central tenant of the United States since its founding. It would ban meaningful instruction on slavery, the Missouri Compromise, the Emancipation Proclamation, the forced relocation of Native American tribes, the laws of Jim Crow, Brown v. Board of Education, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. It would upend campus life.

“Federal statute already prohibits any president from telling schools and colleges what to teach. And students have the right to learn without the threat of culture wars waged by extremist politicians hanging over their heads. Our suit exposes these harms and shows how this memo’s arbitrary and capricious reasoning flies in the face of both American values and established law.”

“The Department of Education’s new policy, reflected in the February ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, seeks to undermine our nation’s educational institutions and is an unlawful attempt to impose this administration’s particular views, which are not based in the law, of how schools and teachers should operate. This is un-American and unlawful,” said Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman. “We will continue to pursue every legal opportunity to oppose and stop harmful attacks on freedom of expression and on the values like inclusion, diversity and belonging that make us all and our nation stronger. We are honored to work with the AFT, AFT-Maryland and the American Sociological Association to fight back against Trump’s unlawful action.”

“Trump’s Department of Education is undermining the freedom of every student in Maryland and across the country to learn honest history, stoking more fear and division in the classroom. In a country where there should be no barriers to education, this broad-reaching and unlawful attack threatens the functionality of our public schools,” said AFT-Maryland President Kenya Campbell. “We cannot meet the needs of every student if we cannot teach the diverse and complex history of every student, and that is why AFT-Maryland has joined this lawsuit—to ensure the honest education of all who learn in Maryland and across the country, from K-12 schools in our most vulnerable communities to our higher education institutions.”

“Sociologists examine society and group behavior, including race and racial inequality,” said American Sociological Association President Adia Harvey Wingfield. “Studying and teaching about social movements like the Civil Rights Movement, economic disparities caused by redlining, or immigration policies is impossible without acknowledging the central role of race in these and many other social phenomena. This memo doesn’t just hinder sociologists from doing our jobs or merely violate our right to free speech—it inflicts a profound disservice upon students who gain from a more comprehensive understanding of the world and upon society as a whole that benefits from our discoveries about human behavior.”

The full complaint can be read here.