On February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a “Dear Colleague Letter.” The letter threatens to withhold federal funding from educational institutions, including universities and school districts, with prosecution, or loss of vital federal funding, if they teach students important history, sociology, and other lessons that reference race and racism, or provide support to students and foster healthy school communities through diversity, equity, or inclusion programming.
The “Dear Colleague Letter” represents a dangerous escalation in the administration’s broader effort to weaponize civil rights laws and impose political control over what schools and universities can teach. The Trump administration set April 24, 2025, as a deadline for every school district in the country to certify compliance.
Some of the programs threatened include courses on slavery and Reconstruction, AP African American Studies, campus-based equity initiatives, and federally funded academic research on structural inequality.
On February 25, 2025, a coalition of educators, researchers, and civil rights leaders—including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT-Maryland (AFT-MD), and the American Sociological Association (ASA)—filed suit in federal court challenging the “Dear Colleague Letter” as unconstitutional, unlawful, and harmful to students and educators across the country, and on March 5, 2025 the Eugene School District 4J joined the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues that the letter violates educators’ First Amendment rights, contradicts existing civil rights law, and threatens to dismantle long-standing efforts to expand access to education.
On April 24, 2025, the District Court of Maryland granted the preliminary injunction, blocking the enforcement of the “Dear Colleague Letter”
The coalition is asking the court to:
- Declare the “Dear Colleague Letter” unlawful;
- Stop the Department of Education from enforcing it;
- Protect academic freedom and restore clarity to classrooms, campuses, and research institutions.
Timeline
- February 14, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Education issues a “Dear Colleague Letter” threatening to withhold federal funding from institutions that engage in DEI programming or teach about race-related topics.
- February 25, 2025 – AFT, AFT-Maryland, and the American Sociological Association file a lawsuit in federal court challenging the letter as unconstitutional and unlawful.
- March 5, 2025 – Eugene School District 4J joined the lawsuit
- March 28, 2025 – Plaintiffs file a Motion for Preliminary Injunction and a supporting memorandum, asking the court to block enforcement of the policy while case proceeds.
- April 3, 2025 – Educators respond to a new enforcement deadline from the administration, urging the court to intervene to prevent harm to students and institutions.
- April 5, 2025 – Social scientists and educational experts submit declarations defending the value of race-related research and warning of the chilling effect the administration’s policy is having on academic freedom.
- April 24, 2025 – Federal Court grants a nationwide Preliminary Injunction stopping the enforcement of the “Dear Colleague Letter.”
The case is American Federation of Teachers, et al. v. U.S. Department of Education, et al.