Michigan, along with 18 other states, sued the federal government Friday over threats from the Trump administration that it would withhold funding for K-12 schools. The administration said local and state educational agencies can only keep their federal dollars if they abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and policies.
The U.S. Department of Education alleges that the programs and policies are illegal under a new interpretation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin” in programs and activities that receive federal funding.
Nessl said in a press release Friday that the programs and policies are lawful. Attorneys general from the coalition that filed the suit say their state education departments comply with all Title VI regulations.
The coalition is suing the U.S. Department of Education in addition to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary of the Office for Civil Rights.
The Trump administration's new interpretation follows a 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended affirmative action in college admissions processes. The decision found that the government should eliminate “all official state sources of invidious racial discrimination.”
The decision prompted the Trump administration to interpret DEI programs as illegal. Its new interpretation of Title IV policies was outlined in a February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter signed by Trainor. The letter said that the Supreme Court’s decision “sets forth a framework” to evaluate the use of Title VI.
“Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation of Title VI,” Trainor wrote in an April 3 press release.
After the reinterpretation, the U.S. Department of Education sent an April 3 letter to state and local educational agencies. The letter said schools will no longer receive Title I funding, which is targeted to schools that primarily serve low-income students, unless they follow the administration’s new interpretation of civil rights laws, including Title VI.
“Given the text of Title VI and the assurances you have already given, any violation of Title VI—including the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (“DEI”) programs to advantage one’s race over another—is impermissible,” the letter reads.
The letter asks state and local educational agencies to sign the letter to acknowledge and agree to comply with the new interpretation within 10 days. If the letter was not signed and returned by the deadline, the government would try to terminate or refuse future grants as well as stop continual financial assistance under the programs, according to the letter. The U.S. Department of Education later pushed back that 10-day deadline to April 24 in a follow-up email.
The Michigan Attorney General’s office said Michigan was allocated nearly $1.27 billion for fiscal year 2024 from the U.S. Department of Education. Nessel said that funding is a “significant portion” of the funding needed to teach children.
Michigan and other states’ responses to DEI demands
The Michigan Department of Education is one of multiple state education agencies that did not sign and return the letter. Instead, it responded by saying the department is already compliant with Title VI laws. It also sent guidance to local school authorities.
The coalition’s lawsuit states that agreeing to the new civil rights interpretation would have placed a difficult burden on schools. It alleges that the new interpretation of Title VI is vague and requires the agencies to determine what are considered diversity, equity, and inclusion programs or policies, then align all those programs with the new interpretation.
“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 wrote in a April 25 press release.
Michael Rice, Michigan Department of Education state superintendent, said that signing the new Title VI guidelines, or recertifying compliance, is unnecessary because the state department’s regularly submitted grant applications have already all been approved by the U.S. Department of Education.
“MDE has faithfully implemented federal education programs in accordance with both federal and state law and will continue to do so.”
“If the intention of this request is to impose new terms and conditions or legal obligations on state education agencies including MDE, it would be inconsistent with federal administrative law,” Rice wrote.
A day before the lawsuit was filed, three federal judges ruled in Maryland, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C., that the Trump administration does not have the authority to order schools to stop all DEI programs. The judges decided that directives in the “Dear Colleague” letter and the April 3 compliance letter were vague, and that tying federal funding to new policies and behaviors could have a chilling effect on schools.
The attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, in addition to Michigan, took part in filing the Friday lawsuit.
