Human Rights Groups, NEA Sue Education Department To Restore English-Learner Grants
Overview:
The SPLC, the Rhode Island Lawyers Committee and the NEA sued the US Department of Education for canceling 28 grants for ELL students.
A coalition of civil rights organizations and the nation’s largest teachers union have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, alleging that the agency illegally withdrew millions of dollars in grants used to train teachers who serve English language learners.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Bar Committee of Rhode Island, and the National Education Association filed the lawsuit, which centers on the department’s September 2025 decision to end funding for 28 National Professional Development grants. According to the petition, the multi-year grants pay for evidence-based programs run by colleges, universities, and other organizations — partnered with state and local educational institutions — that train both current and aspiring teachers of English language learners.
The meaning of the case
Filed in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island by the NEA and individual plaintiffs Laureen Avery and Tina Cheuk, the lawsuit alleges that the department ignored its performance-based principles and previously established criteria for evaluating multi-year grants. Instead of judging programs based on results, the plaintiffs argue, the agency justified selective termination by selecting isolated indicators of diversity, equity and application language that had already been reviewed, accepted and approved.
In many cases, the complaint says, applicants included that language specifically to satisfy a federal law that requires grant recipients to specify how they will ensure equitable access to funded activities.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the department’s actions unconstitutional, vacate 28 termination notices, and order the agency to make new continuation decisions based on the program’s actual performance rather than what it describes as filtering opinions.
Strong allegations from the plaintiffs
The parties have drafted the cancellation in a strict manner. Michael Tafelski, SPLC’s interim chief legal officer, called the termination a “direct attack on a critical pipeline of teachers across the country” and described the move as a politically motivated overreach that harms public classrooms and deprives English language learners of qualified teachers.
Amy Romero, senior legal counsel for the Rhode Island Bar Committee, went further, saying that the administration settled requests for terms they considered “divisive,” such as “diversity” and “equality,” and returned the money to the programs they used. He called that a “violation of the First Amendment” and said it disrupted teacher certification pipelines in a dozen states.
NEA President Becky Pringle said the consequences will fall on students and teachers alike. The grants are there, he said, to ensure that every student “regardless of the language spoken at home” gets a real chance to succeed academically, warning that the loss of money means students lose access to qualified teachers and classrooms lose the support they need.
Teachers explain the impact of the environment
The two plaintiffs individually discussed the impact of the removal of funds on their work supporting English Language Learners. Avery, director of the ExcEL Educators Leadership Academy and former director of Center X’s Northeast regional office at UCLA, said the grant is “a way to get the qualifications you need to effectively serve multilingual students” and that the cancellation disrupts ongoing learning and teacher preparation efforts.
Cheuk, an associate professor at California Polytechnic State University, said his grant is designed to increase the bilingual teacher workforce and strengthen partnerships between the university and school districts throughout California’s Central Coast. The sudden loss of funding, he said, has cut off support for aspiring bilingual teachers and the district’s efforts to address teacher shortages in rural areas and underserved communities.
The Department of Education has not made public the claims presented in the file. The case has now been transferred to federal court in Rhode Island, where the plaintiffs are seeking to revoke the suspension of the grant.
