Court Declines to Issue Injunction after Institute of Education Sciences Began Process of Reinstating Dozens of Cancelled Contracts 

Washington, D.C. – A federal court today declined to issue a preliminary injunction in American Educational Research Association v. Department of Education, effectively allowing the devastating and unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to continue. IES is the research arm of the Department of Education responsible for collecting and analyzing education data, funding numerous studies and research projects, and ensuring high-quality research is available to researchers, educators, policymakers, and the public. After substantial litigation, the agency had told the court in a supplemental filing that an injunction was not necessary because, in many cases, the agency was in the process of reinstating contracts to carry out agency functions.

Although the court declined to issue preliminary relief, it acknowledged that plaintiffs are likely right that “IES is not doing a number of tasks Congress requires of it.” The court ordered the parties to submit a schedule for expedited further litigation to resolve the case, stating the decision not to grant preliminary relief should not be taken as “predictive of this Court’s ultimate decision on the merits.”

Education researchers, data scientists, education evaluators, graduate students, and school district staff filed a case on April 14 challenging the effective dismantling of the IES. The case was filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.  Although the court was not willing to set aside the Department’s cuts without further development of the factual record, the administration changed course on some contracts after Plaintiffs filed suit and brought the significance of these cancellations into full public view. 

“Despite today’s temporary decision, we remain confident that the court will ultimately affirm the vital role of IES’s work not only for researchers, but also for students, educators, school districts, and policymakers. For scholars, the datasets, surveys, research, and evaluations produced by IES are essential to understanding what works in education and what innovations can improve learning for students from all backgrounds. This work provides the high-quality evidence practitioners and policymakers need to make informed decisions for both today’s students and future generations,” said Felice J. Levine, Executive Director of AERA.

“While today’s outcome was not what we hoped, we will continue to make the case that the Congressionally-mandated work funded by IES is essential to creating the best learning environment for kids and ensuring the next generation is prepared for the future,” said Ellen Weiss, Executive Director of SREE. “The work that has been cut short by the contract cancellations provides important feedback to policymakers and educators on what is working and what is not in our schools and allows policymakers to make decisions on how to best allocate the limited resources they have.  

“We are resolute in our commitment to defend the communities and institutions that will suffer as the Trump-Vance administration continues its assault on education in America,” said Daniel McGrath, Senior Oversight Counsel at Democracy Forward. “We are disappointed in this decision, but heartened that during this case, the administration was prompted to restart some critical research functions. We will continue our work with researchers, scientists, graduate students, and school district staff members in the American Educational Research Association and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness as the case continues.” 

Congress created IES within the Department of Education to conduct critical, high-quality education research, collect and analyze data, and disseminate important findings to ensure that children are getting the support they need and that the U.S. is getting returns on its educational investments. Elected representatives have consistently and continuously appropriated funds for such efforts, and most recently passed a continuing resolution on March 14, 2025, that funded IES’s activities and staff at the full level the institute received in the previous fiscal year. 

Despite the congressional mandate to carry out its critical functions, Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) identified a list of nearly 100 IES research and support contracts worth nearly $900 million to be cancelled in February 2025. In a court filing on June 5, 2025, the administration informed the court that it had reinstated, approved for reinstatement, or was considering reinstatement or rebidding for more than 20 of those contracts.

AREA and SREE are represented by Democracy Forward counsel Daniel McGrath, Emma Leibowitz, Maddy Gitomer, Kayla Kaufman, and Victoria Nugent. 

Read the complaint here and today’s order here. 

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.