Request for Expedited Relief Comes Amid Unprecedented Assault on Public Schools, Teachers and Students

Baltimore, MD – Today, a coalition represented by Democracy Forward that includes nationwide associations of educators and a public school district asked a federal court to stop a new attempt to require school districts throughout the nation to certify their compliance with the Trump administration’s unlawful interpretation of civil rights laws or risk prosecution, or risk a loss of vital federal funding. The Trump administration has set April 24, 2025, as a deadline for every school district in the country to certify compliance. 

The additional and expedited request for preliminary injunction comes in American Federation of Teachers, et al. v. U.S. Department of Education, et al., a case filed last month by the American Federation of Teachers, AFT-Maryland, the American Sociological Association, and Eugene School District 4J filed in federal court in Maryland. The complaint challenged a “Dear Colleague Letter,” published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on February 14, 2025, which threatened that federal funding would be withheld from education institutions that teach students important history, sociology, and other lessons that necessarily discuss race, provide support to students in the form of diversity, equity, or inclusion programming, or attempt to foster racial diversity in the school community, among other efforts. 

The new certification requirement is the latest development in a series of actions stemming back to the Dear Colleague Letter that undermine civil rights law and threaten to impose significant penalties on schools and educators. As the Trump administration has continued to take these harmful steps, the case has continued to evolve to protect schools and the families they serve. 

“Today, we are asking the court to pause the very intentional confusion the administration is continuing to cause so it can be addressed in court,” said Maddy Gitomer, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward. “Threatening teachers and sowing chaos in schools throughout America is part of Trump’s war on education. Democracy Forward is honored to work with teachers, sociologists and public school districts that will all be directly affected by these destructive policies to fight back and protect public education.” 

“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. “We are seeking immediate relief because this vague and clearly unconstitutional requirement is a grave attack on students, our profession, honest history and knowledge itself. It would hamper efforts to extend access to education, and dash the promise of equal opportunity for all, a central tenet of the United States since its founding.” 

“If we cannot teach the complex history of every student and meet the diverse needs of every student, then we cannot have an education system that serves all Marylanders,” said AFT Maryland President Kenya Campbell. “Threatening educators who teach honest history and sowing fear and division among students will not solve anything. We must have a preliminary injunction to protect the critical funding our system – from K-12 schools in our most vulnerable communities to our higher education institutions – relies on and to stop the chaos caused by attacking communities for simply meeting the varied needs of all our students.”

“Sociologists study society and group behavior. Consequently, we recognize that race and racial inequality are areas that warrant scientific analysis,” said American Sociological Association President Adia Harvey Wingfield. “Sociologists directly examine how and why racial inequality continues to persist. We also explore the causes and consequences of group-level differences in education, health care, jobs, and more. Our classrooms should be spaces to ask and answer hard questions about these topics, but the chilling effect of this directive would make that process impossible. Ultimately, limiting this type of inquiry does a disservice to students, universities, and the general public that benefits from our research and teaching.”

“Equity programs help fulfill our legal and moral responsibility to make sure all of our students have fair and equal access to public education,” Eugene School District 4J Board Chair Jenny Jonak said. “The Dear Colleague letter and now, this certification, conflict with state law requirements and creates confusion that hurts our school community and our students. Our district has a hate and bias reporting system, student affinity groups that are open to all, curriculum that teaches global history and culture, social and emotional learning, and an ‘Every Student Belongs’ program banning hate symbols in our schools. We also track test scores and attendance rates for all students, as well as disaggregated data and attendance rates for historically underserved groups, to ensure that all our students are receiving the supports they need. The Dear Colleague letter and certification requirement force us to try to pick between the supports that students need to thrive and federal funding that all of our students deserve.”

The expedited motion for preliminary injunction of the certificate can be found here. The original motion for preliminary injunction can be found here and the full amended 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.