Latest news with #AmericanFederationOfTeachers
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Judge blocks Trump administration guidance against DEI programs at schools and colleges
AP — A federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the nation's schools and universities. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland found that the Education Department violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives. The guidance has been on hold since April when three federal judges blocked various portions of the Education Department's anti-DEI measures. The ruling Thursday followed a motion for summary judgment from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, which challenged the government's actions in a February lawsuit. The case centers on two Education Department memos ordering schools and universities to end all 'race-based decision-making' or face penalties up to a total loss of federal funding. It's part of a campaign to end practices the Trump administration frames as discrimination against white and Asian American students. The new ruling orders the department to scrap the guidance because it runs afoul of procedural requirements, though Gallagher wrote that she took no view on whether the policies were 'good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair.' Gallagher, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, rejected the government's argument that the memos simply served to remind schools that discrimination is illegal. 'It initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished,' Gallagher wrote. Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy firm representing the plaintiffs, called it an important victory over the administration's attack on DEI. 'Threatening teachers and sowing chaos in schools throughout America is part of the administration's war on education, and today the people won,' said Skye Perryman, the group's president and CEO. A statement from the Education Department on Thursday said it was disappointed in the ruling but that 'judicial action enjoining or setting aside this guidance has not stopped our ability to enforce Title VI protections for students at an unprecedented level.' The conflict started with a Feb. 14 memo declaring that any consideration of race in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other aspects of academic and student life would be considered a violation of federal civil rights law. The memo dramatically expanded the government's interpretation of a 2023 Supreme Court decision barring colleges from considering race in admissions decisions. The government argued the ruling applied not only to admissions but across all of education, forbidding 'race-based preferences' of any kind. 'Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon 'systemic and structural racism' and advanced discriminatory policies and practices,' wrote Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary of the department's Office for Civil Rights. A further memo in April asked state education agencies to certify they were not using 'illegal DEI practices.' Violators risked losing federal money and being prosecuted under the False Claims Act, it said. In total, the guidance amounted to a full-scale reframing of the government's approach to civil rights in education. It took aim at policies that were created to address longstanding racial disparities, saying those practices were their own form of discrimination. The memos drew a wave of backlash from states and education groups that called it illegal government censorship. In its lawsuit, the American Federation of Teachers said the government was imposing 'unclear and highly subjective' limits on schools across the country. It said teachers and professors had to 'choose between chilling their constitutionally protected speech and association or risk losing federal funds and being subject to prosecution.'
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Judge strikes down Trump administration guidance against diversity programs at schools and colleges
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the nation's schools and universities. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland stated that the Education Department violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives. The judge's ruling followed a motion for summary judgment from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, which challenged the government's actions in a February lawsuit. The case centers on two Education Department memos ordering schools and universities to end all 'race-based decision-making' or face penalties up to a total loss of federal funding. It's part of a campaign to end practices the Trump administration frames as discrimination against white and Asian American students. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Daily Mail
12-08-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump scores win as DOGE is allowed to look at sensitive data
Donald Trump scored a victory after a federal appeals court granted DOGE access to comb through sensitive data of millions of Americans. The agency will now have access to financial data from the Treasury Department, the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management. Earlier this year, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees sued to stop DOGE over alleged privacy violations. But DOGE will now have access to social security numbers and the citizenship status for tens of millions of individuals across the country. The lawsuit will continue through litigation - but for now it is a judicial victory for the Trump administration as it seeks to cut costs with DOGE. Upon taking office, Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk to DOGE in an effort to dramatically shrink federal spending and bureaucracy in the executive branch. Under Musk's reign, the agency found itself at the center of multiple lawsuits as it sought to rapidly gain access to data across the federal government. Musk resigned from DOGE back in May after falling out of favor with the president and the White House inner circle. Judge Julius N. Richardson cited a June decision by the Supreme Court that allowed DOGE analysts access to Social Security data as reason to let DOGE staffers get their hands on the sensitive materials. Richardson, who was appointed by Trump, was joined in the majority opinion by Judge G. Steven Agee, a former President George W. Bush appointee. Meanwhile, the only dissenting opinion was written by Judge Robert B. King, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. Previously, the Justice Department has argued throughout multiple lawsuits that DOGE needs access to large quantities of personal data on Americans to reduce wasted taxpayer money. The government has offered to make DOGE staffers undergo security training and background checks as part of their concessions to federal judges.
Daily Mail
12-08-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump scores big win as DOGE is allowed to sift through Americans' sensitive financial data
Donald Trump scored a victory after a federal appeals court granted DOGE access to comb through sensitive data of millions of Americans. The agency will now have access to financial data from the Treasury Department, the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management. Earlier this year, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees sued to stop DOGE over alleged privacy violations. But DOGE will now have access to social security numbers and the citizenship status for tens of millions of individuals across the country. The lawsuit will continue through litigation - but for now it is a judicial victory for the Trump administration as it seeks to cut costs with DOGE. Upon taking office, Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk to DOGE in an effort to dramatically shrink federal spending and bureaucracy in the executive branch. Under Musk's reign, the agency found itself at the center of multiple lawsuits as it sought to rapidly gain access to data across the federal government. Musk resigned from DOGE back in May after falling out of favor with the president and the White House inner circle. Judge Julius N. Richardson cited a June decision by the Supreme Court that allowed DOGE analysts access to Social Security data as reason to let DOGE staffers get their hands on the sensitive materials. Richardson, who was appointed by Trump, was joined in the majority opinion by Judge G. Steven Agee, a former President George W. Bush appointee. Meanwhile, the only dissenting opinion was written by Judge Robert B. King, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. Previously, the Justice Department has argued throughout multiple lawsuits that DOGE needs access to large quantities of personal data on Americans to reduce wasted taxpayer money. The government has offered to make DOGE staffers undergo security training and background checks as part of their concessions to federal judges. However, the Supreme Court and other judges have more recently have sided with the Trump administration regarding DOGE's access to data.
New York Times
27-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
A.I.-Driven Education: Founded in Texas and Coming to a School Near You
In Austin, Texas, where the titans of technology have moved their companies and built mansions, some of their children are also subjects of a new innovation: schooling through artificial intelligence. And with ambitious expansion plans in the works, a pricey private A.I. school in Austin, called Alpha School, will be replicating itself across the country this fall. Supporters of Alpha School believe an A.I.-forward approach helps tailor an education to a student's skills and interests. MacKenzie Price, a podcaster and influencer who co-founded Alpha, has called classrooms 'the next global battlefield.' 'I've seen the future,' she wrote on social media, 'and it isn't 10 years away. It's here, right now.' To detractors, Ms. Price's '2 Hour Learning' model and Alpha School are just the latest in a long line of computerized fads that plunk children in front of screens and deny them crucial socialization skills while suppressing their ability to think critically. 'Students and our country need to be in relationship with other human beings,' said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, a teachers' union. 'When you have a school that is strictly A.I., it is violating that core precept of the human endeavor and of education.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
