The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, heads coalition of another 20 general prosecutors of the country that demand the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education (ED). On March 11, the government of Republican Trump announced that ED would fire approximately 50% of its staff as part of its objective of a “total closure” of this department.
The Attorney General James and the coalition presented this March 13 a lawsuit to stop the selective destruction of this important federal agency that guarantees that dozens of millions of students receive an essential quality education and resources.
“This administration can affirm that it is braking waste and fraud, but it is evident that their only mission is to deprive students and their families of the necessary services, resources and funds,” said Attorney General James.
«Signaling half of the staff of the Department of Education will harm New York and country students, especially low -income students and those with disabilities that depend on federal funds. This atrocious attempt to leave students behind and deprive them of quality education is reckless and illegal. Today I take measures to stop this madness and protect our schools and students who depend on them, ”says James.
Together with the attorney general James in the presentation of the claim are the general prosecutors of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the Columbia district.
My Office and a Group of Ags are Suing to Stop Trump’s Illegal Attempt to Discount The US Department of Education.
We’re Not Going to Sit By While This Administration Attempts To Leave Tens of Millions of Students Behind and Strip Away Their Access to Quality Education.
– NY AG James (@newyorkstateag) March 13, 2025
The Programs of the Department of Education (ED) serve almost 18,200 school districts and more than 50 million primary and secondary students attending approximately 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools throughout the country.
Its higher education programs provide services and support for more than 12 million higher education students annually.
Students with disabilities and students from low -income families are some of the main beneficiaries of ED services and funds.
Federal ED Funds for Special Education include support for assistance technology for students with disabilities, salaries and benefits for teachers, transport to help children receive the services and programming they need, physiotherapy and speech therapy services, and social workers to help manage students’ educational experiences.
The Department of Education (DE) also supports students in rural communities offering programs designed to help rural school districts that often lack the personnel and resources necessary to compete for competitive subsidies.
As the Attorney General James and the demand coalition claim, dismantling the one of devastating effects on states such as New York. New York primary and secondary schools received $ 6.17 billion, or $ 2,438 per student, from the federal fiscal year 2024.
Federal financing for public schools and universities averaged $ 1,256 per student in New York in the federal fiscal year 2024.
The dismissal of the administration is so massive that it will be incapacitated and will not be able to perform essential functions.
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As the demand states, the administration’s actions will deprive students with special needs of crucial resources and support. They will destroy the civil rights office of, which protects students from discrimination and sexual aggression.
In addition, they would hinder the processing of financial aid, which would increase costs for university students, who will have more difficulty accessing loans, pell scholarships and study and work programs. This would be particularly harmful to New York, where more students receive pell scholarships than almost any other state.
With this claim, the Attorney General James and the coalition seek a court order to stop government policies to dismantle the Department of Education (ED) through the drastic reduction of their staff and programs.
Attorney General James and the coalition argue that government actions to dismantle the ED are illegal and unconstitutional. The department is an executive agency authorized by Congress, with numerous laws that create its various programs and sources of financing. The demand for the coalition states that the Executive Power does not have the legal authority to incapacitate or dismantle it unilaterally without a Congress Law.
