Overview:
The SPLC, Lawyers' Committee for Rhode Island and NEA have sued the the U.S. Department of Education for canceling 28 grants for ELL students.
A coalition of civil rights organizations and the nation’s largest teachers union has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education, arguing that the agency unlawfully canceled millions of dollars in grants used to train teachers who serve English-learner students.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, and the National Education Association brought the lawsuit, which centers on the department’s decision in September 2025 to abruptly discontinue funding for 28 National Professional Development grants. According to the complaint, the multiyear grants paid for evidence-based programs run by colleges, universities, and other organizations that — working with state and local education agencies — trained both current and aspiring educators of English-learner students.
What the lawsuit alleges
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island by the NEA and individual plaintiffs Laureen Avery and Tina Cheuk, the suit contends that the department disregarded its own performance-based regulations and previously established criteria for evaluating multiyear grants. Rather than judging the programs on results, the plaintiffs argue, the agency justified the terminations by selectively pointing to isolated references to diversity, equity and inclusion language in applications that had already been reviewed, accepted and approved.
In several instances, the complaint says, applicants had included such language specifically to satisfy federal law requiring grant recipients to spell out how they would ensure equitable access to the funded activities.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the department’s actions unlawful, vacate the 28 discontinuation notices, and order the agency to make new continuation decisions based on actual program performance rather than what they characterize as ideological screening.
Sharp accusations from the plaintiffs
The groups framed the cancellations in stark terms. Michael Tafelski, interim co-chief legal officer at the SPLC, called the mid-stream terminations “a direct attack on vital educator pipelines across the country” and described the move as politically driven overreach that harms public classrooms and deprives English-learner students of qualified teachers.
Amy Romero, chief legal counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, went further, alleging that the administration combed through applications hunting for words it deemed “divisive ideology,” such as “diversity” and “equity,” and then defunded the programs that used them. She called that “a textbook First Amendment violation” and said it had dismantled teacher certification pipelines in a dozen states.
NEA President Becky Pringle said the consequences would fall on students and educators alike. The grants exist, she said, to ensure that every student “regardless of the language spoken at home” has a real opportunity for academic success, warning that the loss of funding means students lose access to trained educators and classrooms lose needed support.
Educators describe the local impact
The two individual plaintiffs discussed the impact of the removal of funds on their work in supporting English Language Learners. Avery, co-director of the ExcEL Educators Leadership Academy and a former director of the Northeast regional office of Center X at UCLA, said the grant was “a pathway to earning the qualifications needed to effectively serve multilingual learners” and that the cancellation disrupts ongoing professional learning and educator-preparation efforts.
Cheuk, an associate professor at California Polytechnic State University, said her grant was designed to expand the bilingual teacher workforce and strengthen partnerships between the university and school districts across California’s Central Coast. The sudden loss of funding, she said, cut off support for aspiring bilingual educators and weakened regional efforts to address teacher shortages in rural and underserved communities.
The Department of Education has not publicly responded to the claims as presented in the filing. The case now moves to federal court in Rhode Island, where the plaintiffs are seeking to have the grant terminations reversed.
