Lawsuit filed in Boston aims to block Trump from dismantling U.S. Department of Education

A group of Massachusetts school districts and educator unions on Monday joined the legal fight against President Trump's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, arguing the services it provides are vital for student success.

Public schools in Somerville and Easthampton partnered with the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts chapter, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 93 and other groups in a new lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order seeking to close the department and his administration's efforts to lay off many of its employees.

The plaintiffs argue that the department, long a target for conservative criticism, oversees crucial work to support students with disabilities, protect students' civil rights, maintain public education access for families from different demographic backgrounds, provide financial aid for higher education, and more.

Attorneys said in the lawsuit that Congress created the department, meaning it "cannot be eliminated by the President or the Secretary of Education."

Skye Perryman, president of the Democracy Forward group that filed the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs, said the suit seeks to "defend all people who depend on the Department of Education to ensure public schools are safe, accessible and welcoming, and that education is available to all people in this nation, not just a few."

"This country needs to be focused on how to improve education and opportunities for all and how to support those who both give and receive education with safe, effective, accessible, and quality schools and opportunities," Perryman said. "Yet, instead of doing that, Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to our nation’s best values and our chance at a better future."

Trump has been pushing to eliminate the department and redistribute some of its duties to other government offices, arguing that education policy should be entirely within the purview of state and local governments.

Last week, he signed an executive order calling for dismantling the department, writing that "the experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support — has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families."

The Trump administration has also sought to execute major staffing cuts at the Department of Education. Plaintiffs alleged the department's workforce has nearly been cut in half, from about 4,130 employees before Trump took office to about 2,180 now, leaving offices "unable to perform [their] statutorily mandated duties."

Other plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, include the American Association of University Professors and the SEIU union.

"From protecting students' rights to expanding college access and ensuring support for students with disabilities, the Department of Education is a cornerstone of equitable public education," Somerville School Committee Chair Ilana Krepchin said in a statement. "Dismantling it would cause real harm — not only to our students and schools, but to communities across the country. That's why we are joining this case. It is the right decision for Somerville, for Massachusetts, and for the future of public education nationwide."

Attorney General Andrea Campbell is also involved in challenging the Trump administration's moves to dismantle the department. Campbell and 20 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit on March 13, alleging that significant cuts to the department's workforce would leave it unable to fulfill its statutory duties.

Campbell's office said Massachusetts K-12 schools receive nearly $2 billion per year from the federal government toward special education programs, teacher salaries, transportation and more. According to The Associated Press, federal funding is responsible for about 14% of public school budgets nationwide.