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Tracking lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s K-12 education agenda

Rachel M. Perera,
Rachel perera
Rachel M. Perera Fellow - Governance Studies, Brown Center on Education Policy, Robert and Virginia Hartley Chair in Governance Studies

Thalia González, and
Thalia
Thalia González Professor of Law and the James Edgar Hervey ’50 Chair of Litigation - University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

Aidan Tomlinson
Aiden tomlinson
Aidan Tomlinson Student - University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

September 8, 2025

  • Litigation has been a key strategy to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal role in K-12 education. 
  • This project tracks lawsuits challenging the administration’s most consequential executive actions on K-12 education. 
A man leaves the federal courthouse where a group of Democratic state attorneys are asking a federal judge to block U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and halt it from laying off nearly half of its staff, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Amanda Sabga
A man leaves the federal courthouse where a group of Democratic state attorneys are asking a federal judge to block U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and halt it from laying off nearly half of its staff, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Amanda Sabga
  • 4 min read

This project tracks ongoing legal challenges to the Trump administration’s executive actions related to K-12 education. This includes legal challenges to executive orders and non-binding guidance documents that threaten to withhold federal funding from K-12 schools and other education institutions for actions that do not align with Trump administration priorities, as well as efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

The data tool includes information on all lawsuits challenging the executive actions listed in Table 1. The data tool, which will be updated monthly, includes a summary of each lawsuit and subsequent litigation to date, and the status of each case. (All legal terminology is defined below.)

Table 1
Table 2

  • Legal status definitions

    • Appeal: A request for a higher court to review a lower court’s decision.
    • Dismissed Without Prejudice: A case is terminated, but the plaintiff can file a subsequent lawsuit based on the same grounds as the dismissed case.
    • Grants Reinstated: Previously frozen or terminated grants were restored by the federal government pursuant to a court order.
    • Motion to Dismiss: A party asks the court to terminate a case without weighing in on the merits.
    • Motion for Summary Judgment: A party asks the court to issue a judgment on the merits but without a full trial.
    • Motion to Vacate: A party asks the court to overturn a previous judgment or court order.
    • Preliminary Injunction: A court order that prevents the federal government from acting while preserving the status quo as the court hears the case. It is not a judgment on the merits of the case.
    • Stay: A pause in legal proceedings, party actions, or court order. A stay can be temporary or indefinite. 
    • TRO (Temporary Restraining Order): A short-term, temporary injunction.                                                                    

  • Acronyms

    • D. Mass. = District Court for the District of Massachusetts
    • D. Md. = District Court for the District of Maryland
    • D.D.C. = District Court for the District of Columbia
    • D.N.H. = District Court for the District of New Hampshire
    • D.N.M. = District Court for the District of New Mexico
    • D.S.C. = District Court for the District of South Carolina
    • E.D. Va. = District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
    • N.D. Cal. = District Court for the Northern District of California
    • N.D. Ill. = District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division

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Authors

Rachel perera
Rachel M. Perera Fellow - Governance Studies, Brown Center on Education Policy, Robert and Virginia Hartley Chair in Governance Studies

Thalia
Thalia González Professor of Law and the James Edgar Hervey ’50 Chair of Litigation - University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

Aiden tomlinson
Aidan Tomlinson Student - University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

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Program

Governance Studies

Region

North America U.S. States and Territories

Center

Brown Center on Education Policy