NAACP Files Lawsuit Against Education Head

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

The NAACP and the Legal Defense Fund recently filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on April 15.

The defendants named in the suit are the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. The lawsuit aims to stop the current administration from defunding schools that use diversity, equity and inclusion programs in K-12 public schools.

The lawsuit alleges the current administration has issued unclear executive orders that do not adequately define what policies are and aren’t permitted. So, the NAACP says, educational institutions have been forced to overcompensate in implementing race-consideration rollbacks or risk financial and legal repercussions for unintentional guidelines violations.

“As long as the documents remain in place, their broad and vague terms will continue to deter lawful activities by forcing schools and their students to steer clear of almost anything involving race, preventing them from both celebrating racial diversity and addressing racial inequalities,” Allison Scharfstein, educational fellow with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, told Courthouse News in a recent interview.

In plain terms, the NAACP alleges the current administration is targeting programs which offer “truthful, inclusive curricula,” policies that give Black Americans equal access to selective education opportunities, and efforts to foster a sense of belonging and address racism.

“The Department of Education’s (Feb. 14) “Dear Colleague” letter and other communications are not only deeply misleading – they are a gross distortion of reality that attempts to erase the lived experiences of millions of Black and Brown children in this country,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, referring to two recent letters that the NAACP received from Education Department officials.

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The Education Department issued a “Dear Colleague” Letter on Feb. 14, followed by a “Frequently Asked Questions” document on Feb. 28 and a certification requirement on April 3 – “all of which include factual inaccuracies and misinterpretations of civil rights laws and threaten the termination of critical public education funds,” the NAACP said in a recent statement on its website.

The Feb. 14 letter said federal law prevented the schools from considering race as a factor in areas such as admissions, hiring and promotion, pay, financial aid, scholarships and prizes, housing and graduation ceremonies.

Then on April 3, the department demanded certifications of compliance from schools, including an end to DEI programs.

The NAACP said the recent letters aim to deny the existence of racial discrimination since the April 3 letter demanded certifications of compliance from schools, including an end to DEI programs.

“Children of color consistently attend segregated, chronically underfunded schools where they receive less educational opportunities and more discipline,” Johnson said. “Denying these truths doesn’t make them disappear–it deepens the harm.”

The NAACP seeks to have the Dear Colleague and supplemental documents declared unlawful and unconstitutional, and to enjoin the Education Department from implementing the new Title VI guidelines.

The Education Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the federal lawsuit.

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The case is NAACP v U.S. Department of Education et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 25-01120.