US appeals court rejects Trump bid to halt teacher preparation grant funding

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Education must continue funding grants supporting teacher preparation programs in eight Democratic-led states after a federal appeals court on Friday declined to allow President Donald Trump’s administration to cancel them.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause a lower-court judge’s order directing the Education Department to restore grants it terminated as part of the administration’s efforts to nix diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The decision came a day after the Republican president signed an executive order aiming to essentially dismantle the Education Department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and provides federal funding for needy districts.

The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take steps to facilitate the closure of the department to the maximum extent permitted by law. A full shuttering would require an act of Congress, and Trump lacks the votes for that.

McMahon in a column published by Fox News on Friday said her mandate was to work with Congress to eliminate or relocate the department’s functions and “to ensure that no taxpayer money flows to DEI programs or institutions that embrace DEI.”

The grants at issue in Friday’s ruling were among more than $600 million worth awarded to institutions and non-profits the department on February 17 said it canceled because they were used to train teachers and education agencies on “divisive ideologies.”

It said those programs used training materials that discussed topics including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), social justice activism, “critical race theory” and “anti-racism.”

A coalition of Democratic-led states led by California, Massachusetts and New Jersey argued the cuts effectively eliminated the congressionally-authorized Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development grant programs and would devastate programs in their communities.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston)