American Educational Research Association and Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Sue to Protect Institute of Education Sciences 

Washington, D.C. – Education researchers, data scientists, education evaluators, graduate students, and school district staff united today to sue the Trump administration to stop the unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) — 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. The case, American Educational Research Association (AERA) et. al v. Department of Education et. al., is being brought 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’s Southern Division. 

The associations challenge the loss of data, analysis, and expertise caused by the arbitrary cancellation of foundational research contracts and the mass termination of Department of Education employees who oversee the foundational research that is used throughout the field of education research. AERA, SREE, and their members rely on this government data, analysis and expertise for their own education research; the loss of it will be devastating to the field of education. 

“Never before have there been such brazen attacks on education science, data, and research,” said Felice J. Levine, Executive Director of AERA. “The decimation of the Institute of Education Sciences is nothing short of a fundamental harm to the education research community. Without an IES and the federal education statistical agency it houses, the studies and evidence-based findings produced by our members are gravely undermined. Our graduate students are stalled in their work and upended in their progress toward a degree. Practitioners and policymakers also suffer great harm as they are left to drive decisions without the benefit of empirical data and high-quality research.We simply cannot allow this unlawful attack to go unchallenged.”  

“IES has been critical to fostering research on what works, and what does not work, and for providing this information to schools so they can best prepare students for their future. The impacts of the administration’s actions are already having ripple effects across the research community and stand to devastate the ongoing research our members have invested years in fostering,” said Ellen Weiss, Executive Director of SREE. “We must defend IES and the crucial role it serves in improving the lives of students throughout the country.”  

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 89 IES research and support contracts worth nearly $900 million to be cancelled in February 2025, which has since been implemented. Less than one month later, the Department of Education conducted a mass purge of the non-partisan civil service intended to reduce the Department workforce by nearly 50%. This unlawful firing spree included the removal of roughly 90 percent of IES’ already-minimal staff. Together, these actions have eviscerated IES’ ability to do its required work.

“This administration’s repeated assault of the education system in this country threatens educators, students and communities across our country. The policies and programs that the nation has put in place, and that have served communities for decades, cannot be undone with the arbitrary stroke of a pen, despite what this President may wish,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “We are honored to represent researchers, scientists, students, and school district staff at the American Educational Research Association and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, who perform a critical service on which our systems rely. We will use every avenue the law provides to stop this unlawful and unconstitutional action.” 

Read the full complaint here. 

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Democracy Forward 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.