Attorney General Charity Clark recently joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Dept. of Education’s threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Dept. of Education informed state and local agencies that they must accept the Trump administration’s new and legally incoherent interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education funds.
Vermont informed the U.S. Dept. of Education that it continues to stand by its prior certifications of compliance with Title VI and its lawfully issued implementing regulations in the U.S. Dept. of Education’s possession, but would not certify to any executive orders, memoranda, or guidance materials or the undefined language regarding “certain DEI practices” or “illegal DEI” in the request for certification.
In filing the lawsuit April 25, Attorney General Clark and the coalition seek to bar the U.S. Dept .of Education from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.
“The Trump administration has tried to place unlawful conditions on federal funding for our schools. Today I sued to protect Vermont’s students, schools, and future,” said Attorney General Clark. “Vermont has been and will continue to follow education laws, and I will continue to protect Vermonters against any unlawful actions by the federal government.”
The U.S. Dept. of Education provides Vermont with over $100 million in congressionally mandated financial support each year for a wide variety of needs and services related to children and education. This funding includes financial support to ensure that students from low-income families have the same access to high-quality education as their peers, provide special education services, recruit and train highly skilled and dedicated teachers, fund programming for non-native speakers to learn English, and provide support to vulnerable children in foster care and without housing.
As a condition of receiving these funds, state and local education agencies provide written assurances they will comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and Vermont has consistently and regularly certified its compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations.
However, on April 3, the U.S. Dept. of Education issued a letter that conditioned continued federal financial assistance on state and local education agencies certifying that they are not operating programs inconsistent with the Trump Administration’s view that efforts supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion are unlawful.
The letter forced state and local agencies to choose between two untenable options: (1) refuse to certify compliance based on the department’s un-defined viewpoint on what constitutes unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, curriculum, instruction, and policies, and place federal funding in peril or (2) certify compliance, attempt to identify and eliminate lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion to the detriment of students, and still face liability for failing to fully comply with the U.S. Dept. of Education’s vague and ill-defined order. Faced with this choice, Vermont stood by its prior certifications of compliance with Title VI and its lawfully issued implementing regulations in the U.S. Dept. of Education’s possession.
In the lawsuit, Attorney General Clark and the multistate coalition assert that the U.S. Dept. of Education’s attempt to terminate federal education funding based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
Joining Attorney General Clark in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.
