Trump Administration’s Education Department Shake-Up Sparks Lawsuit

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has made good on his promise to dismantle the Department of Education. His administration has laid off employees by the thousands, unraveled racial equity policies, and recently has shifted key educational responsibilities to the Department of Labor.

Now, the state of New York, along with a coalition of school districts, advocacy organizations, and unions, is pushing back in federal court. In a lawsuit filed last week, they say the Trump administration’s changes are “unpredictable, chaotic, and unprofessional,” and point out that only Congress, not the White House, has the power to make wholesale Education Department changes.

At the same time, the extraordinary moves the administration has made so far will harm millions of students — many of them Black. 

“Schools, educators, and students all depend on federal programs,” according to the lawsuit. “This experience is unprecedented in administration changes, and different in kind than the routine priority changes that happen with each new presidential administration.”

‘Cruel and Shameful’

Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, put a finer point on it in a statement. She said the Trump administration’s slow-motion destruction of the Education Department is a “cruel and shameful” attempt to “starve and steal” from K-12 students. 

“Nothing is more important than the success of our students,” Pringle said. “America’s educators and parents will not be silent as Trump and [Education Secretary] Linda McMahon turn their backs on our students, families, and communities to pay for billionaire tax cuts.”

Madi Bidderman, a Department of Education spokesperson, dismissed the lawsuit, saying it helps special interests like unions and blue-state voters preserve “the DC bureaucracy” rather than give “parents, students, and teachers more control over education.”

Skirting Federal Law

The lawsuit says that the Trump administration is skirting federal law by firing Department employees and shifting around federal programs. 

“Because Agency Defendants are dismantling the Department wholesale, and have mass fired the professional staff, the information and actions coming out of the Department have been unpredictable, chaotic, and unprofessional,” according to the lawsuit.

Title I Schools, Black Students Face Greatest Risk

Students attending Title I schools and students with disabilities will be disproportionately harmed by the Trump administration’s recent move, according to the lawsuit. 

Title I funding helps support schools with a strong share of students from low-income backgrounds and students with disabilities — a disproportionate number of whom are Black. According to recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 37% of Black students attend high-poverty public schools.

The grants help schools pay for after-school tutoring programs, additional teaching staff and routine tests to make sure students are learning.

In January, the Trump administration began undoing Education Department programs aimed at helping Black students narrow the achievement gap with their white peers. The moves are part of the Trump administration’s broader goal of restructuring the nation’s education system, one he and his allies have described as riddled with “wokeism” and “left-wing indoctrination”. 

America’s educators and parents will not be silent.

-BECKY PRINGLE, NEA PRESIDENT

Then, shortly after Secretary of Education Linda McMahon was confirmed in March, the White House launched a massive wave of layoffs at the department, slashing the workforce in half. In perhaps the boldest move so far, McMahon announced last month that several K-12 programs within the Department of Education would be moved to other federal agencies, including the Department of Labor. 

Department of Labor Lacks Education Expertise

The Trump administration’s mass firings across the Education Department have left the agency with a skeleton staff, the lawsuit says. Even though some workers got their jobs back after Trump signed the fiscal year 2026 spending bill, the Department is still low on numbers. 

In addition, Title I funds will now be overseen by the Department of Labor — an agency with little to no experience in education issues or disbursing funds to schools. With the new administrative changes put in place, school districts are uncertain whether they will even receive Title I funds, according to the lawsuit. 

The Impact on Special Education Students 

Easthampton Public Schools, a school district in Western Massachusetts, is already  paying a price for the Education Department shake-up. Lacking Title I funds, The school district was forced to lay off a reading specialist, who was being paid through the grant. The specialist’s absence likely will hurt reading outcomes for students who need it. 

The Education Department still oversees special education programs,  but the Trump administration has said it is looking to find them a new home. The move could mean that IDEA, a decades-long federal law that guarantees an equitable education for students with disabilities, will be significantly weakened. 

“The Department of Education is the only federal agency with the expertise and infrastructure to uphold the IDEA’s promise,” the lawsuit says. “No other agency is equipped to work directly with state education agencies that oversee the IDEA implementation in local school districts.”

This story was originally published on Word In Black on December 3rd, 2025