AFT Massachusetts Sues to Stop Dismantling of Public Education, Lawsuit is first challenge to Trump’s Executive Order (March 24, 2025)
The American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts along with a broad coalition of educators, school districts, nonprofits, and labor unions took legal action to stop the Trump Administration’s attempts to decimate the Department of Education and the critical services it provides to students, teachers, parents, and communities across the country.
The lawsuit – filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by Democracy Forward – is the first since President Trump signed an Executive Order last week to dismantle the Department.
“Protecting access to public education is an important component of ensuring all children have the opportunity to succeed – a value most Americans hold dear and one that is crucial to our democracy. For nearly 50 years, the federal government has helped us ensure equal access, especially for those who have had access restricted throughout history – including low-income students in rural and urban areas, students with disabilities, and students learning English,” said AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang. “Dismantling the federal government’s role - whether it’s by an illegal executive order or widespread firings to bring critical services and support to a halt – will cause the most harm to students with the greatest needs, greatly diminishing our ability to provide all children with a free and equal education. At the end of the day, the White House is not just illegally dismantling a department - they're dismantling the futures of millions of children and working families across the country.”
Public schools are governed by their respective state and local education authority. Federal law protects state and local control over public schools - from approving a school’s curriculum to setting graduation requirements. From distributing funds to help schools work with students with disabilities, to providing support and assistance to parents and families, protecting students’ civil rights, and making sure higher education is affordable for deserving students, the Department of Education and the services and funding it provides is essential to the success of students and to ensuring equal access to quality public education.
Before the Executive Order was signed, the White House was already taking steps to dismantle the Department through massive layoffs – reducing the staff from 4,133 to 2,183. A nearly 50 percent cut of personnel means the loss of jobs working families rely on while causing severe disruptions in the delivery of critical services, harming students and schools across the nation.
In addition to the layoffs, the President’s Executive Order and other administration statements have described the intent to close the Department and move Department programs and offices, such as the Office for Special Education Programs and Federal Student Aid, to different federal agencies with no relevant expertise or necessary resources.
Instead of targeted funding to ensure all students have access to equal educational opportunities in our public schools, the Trump Administration wants any federal funding to be provided to the states as block grants. These lump sums of funding would not come with the accountability measures current federal education funding has in place to ensure the money for specific programs and populations is going to those most in need.
“For decades, federal education funding has helped ensure students of all abilities and from all backgrounds have access to the same opportunities as their peers,” continued President Tang. “Moving away from targeted education funding will mean we can no longer ensure that services and investments are getting to the students who need it the most. Instead, there would be nothing stopping the states from shifting all federal education funds to privatization schemes like vouchers for private schools that most benefit those who already have the means to afford them.”
Additional plaintiffs include the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 93, the Easthampton School District, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Somerville Public School Committee.
“The Department of Education, and the laws it is supposed to execute, has one major purpose: to fill opportunity gaps to help every child in America succeed,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “That’s what the ‘equal access’ provided for in the statute means. And over the last five decades, Congress has fulfilled this mission to help poor kids, kids with disabilities, first generation college kids, kids who want to work in a trade, and 45 million Americans with student debt. Now, wielding a sledgehammer, this president is destroying that promise for this and future generations. No one likes bureaucracy, and everyone’s in favor of more efficiency, so let’s find ways to accomplish that. In fact, the AFT was opposed to shifting education from Health, Education, and Welfare, because it created an additional layer. But don’t use a ‘war on woke’ to hand tax cuts to Elon Musk and other billionaires and defund public schools by sending block grants to the states for private school vouchers. Trying to abolish the department as one of the president’s first acts—whether through an executive order, a ‘reduction in force’ or concepts of a plan to shift services elsewhere—is not only illegal, it sends a message that the president doesn’t care about broad based opportunity, doesn’t care about knowledge, and doesn’t care about this country’s future. That is why the president is losing this battle in the court of public opinion. It’s why states like Massachusetts, with the highest NAEP scores, want to keep the department. And today, it’s why we’re going to a court of law to try to stop this callousness and cruelty in its tracks.”
“Today, we defend all people who depend on the Department of Education to ensure public schools are safe, accessible and welcoming, and that education is available to all people in this nation, not just a few,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “This country needs to be focused on how to improve education and opportunities for all and how to support those who both give and receive education with safe, effective, accessible, and quality schools and opportunities. Yet, instead of doing that, Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to our nation’s best values and our chance at a better future. We are honored to represent students, educators, schools, and communities across the nation in court to stop this abuse of power.”
In addition to the harm the mass firings will cause, the case filed today raises important constitutional issues. For the past 46 years, Congress has consistently appropriated funds for the Department to provide services to students, parents, schools, states, colleges, and more, and has repeatedly passed laws requiring the Department to perform a host of functions.
“The Executive Order abolishing the Department of Education is not only illegal, but — as is to be expected from this administration — just plain cruel,” said AFSCME Council 93 Executive Director Mark Bernard. “Thousands of families across Massachusetts rely on the vital services and protections under the IDEA Act to provide educational support for our most vulnerable children. As the home of the first free public school in America, Massachusetts has long been a leader in public education allowing for accessible, equitable, and appropriate education for all students. Thousands of dedicated AFSCME Council 93 members across Massachusetts work tirelessly to support our public-school children in safe, welcoming, and caring school communities.”
“The department has played a crucial role in the pathway to higher education for millions of Americans by providing and administering student loans, grants, and work-study programs,” said Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors. “Without it, access to education for working class Americans will decrease. Funding for college education will be stripped away, programs for students with disabilities and students living in poverty will be eviscerated, and enforcement of civil rights laws against race- or sex-based discrimination in higher education will disappear.”
“Working people are not going to stand idly by while this administration destroys public education and other services we all rely on—just to give tax breaks to corporations and the ultra-wealthy,” said SEIU President April Verrett. “Education workers—from food service workers, janitors, and bus drivers to higher education workers, teachers, special education support staff, and administrators—stand united in this moment to protect the interests of the students and communities they serve.
“Somerville Public Schools is deeply committed to ensuring that every student has access to a high-quality education in a safe and inclusive environment. From protecting students’ rights to expanding college access and ensuring support for students with disabilities, the Department of Education is a cornerstone of equitable public education. Dismantling it would cause real harm — not only to our students and schools, but to communities across the country. That’s why we are joining this case. It is the right decision for Somerville, for Massachusetts, and for the future of public education nationwide,” said Ilana Krepchin, Chair of the Somerville School Committee.