A federal judge in Boston has struck down the Trump administration’s 2025 directive that led the Education Department to cancel more than $600 million in teacher-training grants, money that flowed heavily through colleges and universities.
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley ruled Sept. 17 that the Feb. 5, 2025, directive, which ordered the department to end grants that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law. She vacated it in its entirety and declared it unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Eight Democratic-led states brought the case: California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin. They pressed on even after the Supreme Court allowed the terminations to proceed in April 2025.
The grants came from the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development programs. The first requires a partnership between a high-need school district and a college or university. According to the ruling, the department terminated 104 of 109 grants in the two programs within about two weeks, 40 of them in the plaintiff states. Examples cited include a roughly $2.3 million University of Massachusetts Amherst grant to train paraeducators as licensed early childhood teachers, and a UMass Boston residency with Boston Public Schools that would have led to a master’s degree in special education. Eight terminated California State University and University of California grants were worth about $56 million.
Kelley found that the directive never defined DEI, yet the department ended grants involving topics such as “anti-racism” and “social-emotional learning.” She said the department did not explain its reversal of earlier policy that had encouraged DEI in these very programs. It also did not weigh the reliance of teachers, schools and students, or consider giving grantees notice and a chance to fix any problems. She further concluded that the directive conflicts with the programs’ authorizing statutes and a federal education law that call for supporting diverse educators and equitable access, and that the department skipped required public notice and comment.
Kelley wrote that “the reliance interests are many, substantial, and deep-rooted.” The directive, she said, overlooked how thousands of working teachers and trainees, along with students in high-need districts, would be affected.
The administration defended the policy on several fronts. At oral argument, the department’s lawyers said the directive covered all DEI activities because all DEI is inherently discriminatory, according to the ruling. The department also argued that the states lacked standing and that the case was moot because a June 2025 guidance had replaced the directive. Kelley rejected both arguments, noting the department has not backed away from its position that the directive was lawful. The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ruling does not bring back the money. Kelley said any suits to recover lost funds must go to the Court of Federal Claims. She declined to issue a separate injunction, finding it unnecessary given the vacatur and declaratory judgment.
The department says it has not relied on the directive since June 2025. The newer priorities it adopted remain in place and will govern the fiscal 2026 grant competitions. Award announcements for the educator-development program are expected around Sept. 30, with applicants from the plaintiff states among those waiting.
