A federal district judge in Maryland has struck down the U.S. Department of Education’s attempts to do away with diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in colleges and universities as well as K-12 classrooms.
Judge Stephanie Gallagher was first nominated to serve on the federal district court by President Barack Obama in 2016, but the appointment expired before she was confirmed. President Donald Trump renominated her in 2018, and she was confirmed by a Senate voice vote in 2019.
Her ruling last week is directly contrary to Trump’s efforts to target DEI policies across the federal government.
U.S. District Judge Gallagher found that both an agency Dear Colleague letter threatening to yank federal funds for schools from K-12 through colleges and universities that use race-conscious practices in aspects of student life along with a DOE memo ordering state education leaders to certify compliance with federal rules, to be “unlawful.” She ordered that the two directives be vacated.
Gallagher’s ruling is pursuant to a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers union and its affiliate, AFT-Maryland, as well as the American Sociological Association and a public school district in Oregon.
She noted that both the letter and certification requirements are “unconstitutionally vague.”
Gallagher is one of three federal judges who initially blocked different parts of the agency’s initiatives in April, which halted enforcement of the letter and the memo on certifying compliance.
“The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints,” wrote Gallagher. “But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.”
The judge rejected the DOE argument that the directives were simply reminders that discrimination is illegal, finding that they initiated a significant change in how the Department regulated schools and that schools could reasonably fear that their lawful actions could lead to punishment.
The DOE directives threatened to withhold federal funding from school districts unless they removed or altered lessons on race, dismantled student support programs serving particular communities, and signed certifications swearing compliance with the administration’s new interpretation of federal civil rights law. The judge’s ruling, found that these directions were unconstitutionally vague and violated due process.
Three colleges and universities in Tennessee, Belmont, Vanderbilt, and UT, are currently reviewing their policies to ensure compliance with Trump Administration orders.
A spokesperson for the Education Department issued a statement saying the DOE was disappointed in the judge’s ruling, but that getting rid of the guidance “has not stopped our ability to enforce Title VI protections for students at an unprecedented level,” referring to the federal law that bans discrimination based on race, skin color, and national origin in schools.
“The Department remains committed to its responsibility to uphold students’ anti-discrimination protections under the law,” the spokesperson noted. The Trump Administration has not yet indicated whether they intend to appeal the ruling or attempt to revise the directives to be more specific in accordance with Constitutional provisions and the recent Supreme Court’s ruling in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services.
Steve Gill is Publisher of TriStar Daily.
