Educators, Professors, School Districts, Unions Win Historic Effort to Block Trump Administration Attempt to Dismantle Department of Education

Massachusetts - The coalition of educators, school districts, and unions that challenged  Secretary of Education McMahon’s massive reduction-in-force has won a preliminary injunction that will halt the administration’s unlawful effort to dismantle the Department of Education. The Secretary’s Mass Termination Order would have gutted the Department of Education and decimated crucial services the Department provides to every American. The group, which includes the, Somerville Public School Committee, Easthampton School District, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) - Massachusetts, AFT, AFSCME Council 93, American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is represented by Democracy Forward in Somerville Public Schools v. Trump.

As the district court wrote, “A department without enough employees to perform statutorily mandated functions is not a department at all. This court cannot be asked to cover its eyes while the Department’s employees are continuously fired and units are transferred out until the Department becomes a shell of itself.”

“Today’s order means that the Trump administration’s disastrous mass firings of career civil servants are blocked while this insupportably disruptive and unlawful agency action is litigated,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “No one’s lives are being made better by this administration’s attempted dismantling of the Department of Education. Instead of taking a wrecking ball to our nation’s best values and our chance at a better future, this administration should be focused on how to improve education and opportunities for all.”

The dismantling of the Department has begun via mass layoffs of half of the entire Department. Prior to January 20, 2025, the Department employed 4,133 employees. If the Trump administration’s actions were allowed to proceed, just 2,183 would remain. From distributing funds to help schools work with students with disabilities, to providing support and assistance to parents and families, protecting students’ civil rights, and making sure higher education is affordable for students, civil servants at the Department of Education are essential to the success of students. Mass firings of these hardworking people will harm students and schools.

“We are deeply encouraged by the court’s decision today to grant the preliminary injunction, which will temporarily prevent the Trump administration from proceeding with its harmful efforts to dismantle the Department of Education,” said Ilana Krepchin, Chair of the Somerville School Committee. “This victory is a win for our students, teachers, families here in Somerville and across the nation, and it affirms that our public education system is too important to be undermined by actions that threaten our students’ rights and opportunities. We thank our coalition partners for coming together to defend public education, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our students’ futures remain bright.”

“While today’s decision will provide relief, the damage is already being felt in our schools – by our students, especially the most vulnerable, and our educators,” said American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President Jessica Tang. “We have the utmost confidence in the virtue and facts of our case. The White House is not above the law, and we will never stop fighting on behalf of our students and our public schools and the protections, services, and resources they need to thrive.”

“Today, the court rightly rejected one of the administration’s very first illegal, and consequential, acts: abolishing the federal role in education,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “This decision is a first step to reverse this war on knowledge and the undermining of broad-based opportunity.  For America to build a brighter future, we must all take more responsibility, not less, for the success of our children. The vast majority of Americans and states like Massachusetts, with the highest NAEP scores, want to keep the education department because it ensures all kids, not just some, can get a shot at a better life.”

In addition to the layoffs, a presidential Executive Order and other administration statements have described the intent to close the Department and move Department programs and offices, such as the Office for Special Education Programs and Federal Student Aid, to different federal agencies with no relevant expertise or necessary resources.

Read the full complaint here and the preliminary injunction here.

The legal team at Democracy Forward on this case includes Will Bardwell, Elena Goldstein, Rachel F. Homer, Victoria Nugent, Adnan Perwez, and Kali Schellenberg.

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Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.