Press Release  AG Campbell Sues Trump Administration For Threatening To Withhold Education Funding Over Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Initiatives

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.

On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) informed state and local agencies that they must sign a document setting forth the Trump Administration’s new interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education funds.

Massachusetts, like many other states, acknowledged that it does and will comply with federal nondiscrimination statutes, regulations, and case law, but refused to certify its compliance with the Department’s new requirements, as there is no lawful or practical way to do so given the Department’s vague, contradictory, and unsupported interpretation of Title VI. 

In filing today’s lawsuit, AG Campbell and the coalition seek to bar the Department from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions. 

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are legal efforts that help students feel safe, supported and respected. The Trump Administration’s threats to withhold critical education funding due to the use of these initiatives are not only unlawful, but harmful to our children, families, and schools,” said AG Campbell. “By filing this lawsuit, we seek to block any such reckless disruptions to our children’s education, and as Attorney General and a mom, I will continue to hold the Administration accountable for illegal actions that harm our state.” 

The Department provides Massachusetts with nearly $575.2 million in congressionally mandated financial support each year for a wide variety of needs related to children and education, including nearly $302.4 million in funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This funding further includes financial support to ensure that students from low-income families have the same access to high-quality education as their peers, recruit and train highly skilled and dedicated teachers, fund programming for non-native speakers to learn English, and provide support to vulnerable children in foster care and without housing. As a condition of receiving these funds, state and local education agencies provide written assurances that they will comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and Massachusetts has consistently and regularly certified its compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations.

However, on April 3, the Department issued a letter that conditioned continued federal financial assistance on state and local education agencies certifying that they are not operating programs inconsistent with the Trump Administration’s new position on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The letter forced state and local agencies to choose between two untenable options: (1) refuse to certify compliance based on the Department’s un-defined viewpoint on what constitutes unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, curriculum, instruction, and policies, and place federal funding in peril or (2) certify compliance, attempt to identify and eliminate lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion to the detriment of students, and still face liability for failing to fully comply with the Department’s vague and ill-defined order. 

Faced with this choice, Massachusetts informed the Department that it continues to stand by its prior certifications of compliance with Title VI and its lawfully issued implementing regulations in the Department’s possession but did not assent to the unlawfully issued certification.

In their lawsuit, AG Campbell and the multistate coalition assert that the Department’s attempt to terminate federal education funding based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers, and the Administrative Procedures Act. 

In filing the lawsuit, AG Campbell joined the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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