LANSING, MI — Michigan joined nearly 20 other states in filing a lawsuit against federal education authorities on Friday, April 25.
The latest lawsuit Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is party to stems from Trump administration threats to withhold funding from state and local education agencies not agreeing to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
A coalition of 19 attorneys general initiated litigation April 25, against the U.S. Department of Education, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.
“That the federal government would strangle our schools and shutter classrooms to achieve their political attacks on DEI programming is appalling,” Nessel stated in a news release, regarding the April 25 filing.
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education informed state and local education agencies that they must sign a document accepting the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or they would be at risk of losing federal education funds.
The letter conditioned federal financial education assistance on these agencies certifying they are not operating programs inconsistent with the Trump administration’s view on DEI.
“The letter forced state and local agencies to choose between two untenable options,” Nessel stated in the release.
Either refuse to comply and risk losing funding or “certify compliance, attempt to identify and eliminate lawful (DEI) to the detriment of students and still face liability for failing to fully comply,” she said.
Michigan, along with multiple other states, did not sign the certification form as drafted.
In Nessel’s April 25 lawsuit, she and the coalition of 19 states seek to bar the department from withholding any funding despite that refusal.
“Our educational agencies cannot be expected to comply with legally incoherent demands that undercut the 1964 Civil Rights Act, particularly when our schools are not in violation of Title VI and have annually certified compliance with this law,” Nessel said.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits race-based discrimination by programs receiving federal financial assistance.
The Trump administration’s interpretation of Title VI was detailed in a Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter that threatened to withhold federal funding from education institutions that continued with DEI practices.
It referenced a June 2023 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down the use of race in college admissions, commonly referred to as affirmative action. The practice was previously in place in some form since the 1960s.
The letter, signed by Trainor, also said DEI programs are a form of discrimination in “less direct, but equally insidious, ways.”
Nessel said federal education funds are a significant portion of the funding needed to teach Michigan children, “and right now, in the face of these unlawful demands, we’re fighting the Trump administration just to keep special education in our public schools.”
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For Fiscal Year 2024, Michigan was allocated nearly $1.27 billion in congressionally mandated financial support through the U.S. Department of Education, Nessel’s office said, covering a wide variety of needs and services for students.
That sum included financial support for children from low-income families and in foster care, funding for special education services and dollars for teacher retention programs.
As a condition of receiving the funds, state and local education agencies provided written assurances that they will comply with Title VI, Nessel said, adding that Michigan has consistently and regularly certified its compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations.
Nessel said the Michigan Department of Education has informed the federal department that it continues to stand by prior certifications of Title VI. The lawsuit asserts that the attempt to remove federal education funding violates several federal laws.
In addition to Nessel, attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin were involved in filing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes the day after a trio of federal court rulings declaring that Trump administration policies related to DEI in education, or the way they were enacted, likely violate the law.
The Michigan Department of Education issued guidance that each school district should consult with its legal counsel to determine how the court rulings may apply and what, if any actions, should be taken in response.
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20, Nessel has been involved in 11 lawsuits against the federal government. Issues at stake among them include the Trump administration’s executive order on birthright citizenship, the decision to fire federal government employees and the rollback of extensions for local schools to spend millions in pandemic-era funds.
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