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.

U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta said the department failed to provide any "proper explanation" for why it was canceling grants awarded under programs authorized by Congress to help support institutions that recruit and train teachers for traditionally under-served local educational agencies.

He said halting grants awarded to universities and other entities in the eight states will result in staff layoffs and program disruptions that "will weaken the very teacher pipelines in their jurisdictions that Congress intended to strengthen."

Kayatta wrote the decision on behalf of a panel of three judges, all appointees of Democratic presidents.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, whose state is co-leading the lawsuit with California and Massachusetts, in a statement hailed the decision, saying the Trump administration's cancellation of the grants was "shameful and illegal."

The Education Department did not respond to requests for comment.

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. Trump on Friday said key programs on student loans and nutrition would be transferred to other agencies.

The K-12 teacher preparation 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."

The states argued the department lacked authority to nix the grants, which they said would exacerbate a teacher shortage by effectively eliminating the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development grant programs.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden in Boston, issued a temporary restraining order on March 10 requiring the grants to be reinstated, prompting the Trump administration to run to the 1st Circuit to avoid paying out millions of dollars.

While that appeal was pending, another judge in Maryland on Monday sided with groups that represent teacher-preparation programs and issued a separate injunction ordering the department to reinstate the groups' members' grants.

The states that pursued Friday's case are among a broader group of 20 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia pursuing a separate case before Joun seeking to block the Trump administration from dismantling the department and firing of nearly half of its staff, as it announced it would do.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alistair Bell and David Gregorio)