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A Trump-appointed judge struck down two actions from the Education Department aimed at rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in American schools, arguing that the federal government cannot push their policies “at the expense of constitutional rights.”
In her ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland found that the Education Department violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives.
“The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints,” Gallagher wrote, according to Politico. “But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.”
“The government did not merely remind educators that discrimination is illegal: it initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished,” she added.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WARNS THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST REMOVE DEI POLICIES OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING
The ruling followed a motion for summary judgment from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, which challenged the government’s actions in a February lawsuit.
The case centered on two Education Department memos ordering schools and universities to end all “race-based decision-making” or face penalties up to a total loss of federal funding.
The conflict started with a Feb. 14 memo declaring that any consideration of race in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other aspects of academic and student life would be considered a violation of federal civil rights law.
A further memo in April asked state education agencies to certify they were not using “illegal DEI practices.” Violators risked losing federal money and being prosecuted under the False Claims Act, it said.
A statement from the Education Department on Thursday said it was disappointed in the ruling but that “judicial action enjoining or setting aside this guidance has not stopped our ability to enforce Title VI protections for students at an unprecedented level.”
In April, a federal judge in New Hampshire already blocked the Trump administration from cutting funding to public schools that maintain diversity programs.
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U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty said at the time that the effort by Trump’s Education Department to block federal funding to public schools that continue to promote DEI programs likely violates the First Amendment, presenting what she described as “textbook viewpoint discrimination.”
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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