On March 5, 2025, the nation’s largest educator union filed suit to challenge the U.S. Department of Education’s(USDE) directive to cease diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The lawsuit is in response to a strict Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter (DCL) that educators and education policy experts worried would severely curb student resources, curriculum and other programs related to race in schools. The letter set a Feb. 28 deadline for schools to comply — or risk losing federal funding. Further, despite the USDE’s attempts to tone down the original DCL and clarify its stance through a less aggressive Q&A document, the National Education Association (NEA) was joined by the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU) in filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

The lawsuit says the directive exposes educators “to professional and legal penalties by declaring that their protected expression violates federal law” and risks cuts to federal school funding that would be “devastating to almost any educational institution.” As a result, it’s possible that schools will move to cut back on any expression that could be deemed a “DEI program,” out of fear.

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