Attorney General Ellison sues Trump Administration over unlawful conditions on funding for K-12 schools
$530 million in federal education investments at risk in Minnesota
April 25, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) – Attorney General Ellison today co-led a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging a U.S. Department of Education (ED) threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.
On April 3, 2025, the ED informed state and local agencies that they must certify their compliance with the Trump Administration’s new and incoherent interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education investments. On April 7, Minnesota became the second state to decline certification, highlighting the state’s mission to ensure all students have access to a world-class education, reiterating a commitment to following state and federal law, and explaining that there is no lawful or practical way to do certify compliance given ED’s vague and unsupported interpretation of Title VI. In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition seek to bar the ED from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.
“Minnesotans believe that every child has the right to learn in an environment that is safe, supportive, and inclusive,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Our educators work hard every day to realize that vision in classrooms across our state, with significant support from the federal government. These federal investments help fund programs that support students from poor families, assistance for students with special needs, early learning programs, transportation services, and so much more. Donald Trump clearly takes issue with the work our teachers do to support all students, so he’s threatening to cut over half a billion dollars from our schools unless we abandon that work. I’m filing today’s lawsuit to ensure that does not happen.”
The U.S. Department of Education provides Minnesota with roughly $530 million in financial support each year for a wide variety of needs and services related to children and education. This funding includes financial support to ensure that students from low-income families have the same access to high-quality education as their peers, provides special education services, recruits and trains highly skilled and dedicated teachers, funds programming for English language learners, and provides support to vulnerable children in foster care and without housing. As a condition of receiving these funds, state and local education agencies provide assurances they comply with federal laws and other required assurances, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin. Minnesota submits regular applications certifying compliance with all required assurances for federal programs.
However, the April 3 ED letter conditioned continued federal financial assistance on state and local education agencies certifying that they are not operating programs inconsistent with the Trump Administration’s view that efforts supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion are unlawful. The letter forced state and local agencies to choose between two untenable options: (1) refuse to certify compliance based on the Department’s un-defined viewpoint on what constitutes unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, curriculum, instruction, and policies, and place federal funding in peril or (2) certify compliance, attempt to identify and eliminate lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion to the detriment of students, and still face liability for failing to fully comply with ED’s vague and ill-defined positions. Faced with this choice, Minnesota informed ED that it continues to follow all federal laws, including Title VI and its lawfully issued implementing regulations, but would not assent to the unlawfully issued certification.
In the lawsuit, Attorney General Ellison and the multistate coalition assert that the Department of Education’s attempt to terminate federal education funding based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
Attorney General Ellison co-led the coalition filing the lawsuit, along with the attorneys general of Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and New York. Also joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
