Mass. among states suing Trump administration over slashed teacher-prep funding

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and seven other state attorneys general sued the U.S. Department of Education and its top official Thursday to challenge recent cuts to grant funding for K-12 teacher preparation programs nationwide.

The programs were authorized by Congress to recruit and train teachers for hard-to-staff subject areas in rural and urban communities, and to provide teachers and principals the opportunity to serve in underserved districts.

"These terminations will immediately disrupt teacher workforce pipelines, increase reliance on underqualified educators, and destabilize local school systems," the plaintiffs say in the filing.

The Trump administration cut a 2ドル.3 million grant that enables UMass Amherst to train paraprofessionals to become licensed early childhood educators, and a 5ドル.9 million grant to train bilingual teachers in Boston Public Schools.

"The Trump Administration’s unlawful funding cuts have recklessly disrupted programs designed to address the ongoing teacher shortage in the Commonwealth, including those serving vulnerable students with special needs," Campbell said in a statement.

According to the suit, the funding cuts were communicated via "form letters claiming the grants were no longer consistent with Department [of Education] priorities" although the letters "contain no facts explaining how or why any particular grant fails to conform to these priorities."

However, the lawsuit states these grants were seemingly targeted as they relate to "disfavored but lawful efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion."

The suit was filed in Massachusetts federal court and co-filed by attorneys general in California, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin. Arguing the grant cancellations were "arbitrary and capricious," they're seeking a temporary restraining order to reinstate the funds.

The funding cuts happened "over the course of a few days" starting on Feb. 7, when the education department began cutting programs that fell under grants labeled "Teacher Quality Partnership" and "Supporting Effective Educator Development," according to the suit.

The goal of the UMass program was to train at least 35 fully licensed early educators over a span of five years to work in Holyoke and Springfield schools.

"It was disappointing to learn that this project was cancelled with only 5 hours notice," UMass Amherst College of Education Dean Gregory Kelly said in a statement. "Working with school leaders, UMass educators designed this program to support paraprofessionals to earn their initial teaching license."

The Boston Public Schools grant, meanwhile, encompassed a partnership with UMass Boston to train bilingual educators. Participants could work toward a master's degree in special education with extra training in moderate disabilities and bilingual education before serving Boston's diverse student body.

Boston may have to cut at least three full-time positions supported by the grant, according to Campbell's office.

In a statement, Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler expressed support for the suit.

"Cutting teacher preparation funding will exacerbate the workforce shortages being felt around the country and here in Massachusetts, harming student access to a high-quality education," he said. "Our state remains focused on building a more diverse, inclusive and robust teacher pipeline and field."

The lawsuit comes as Trump prepares to issue an executive order directing U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the department.