Education Dept Drops Appeal in Case Blocking Anti‑DEI Funding Threat to Schools

The Trump Education Department has moved to dismiss its appeal of an August 2025 federal court ruling that struck down its anti‑DEI guidance threatening to cut off federal funding to schools and colleges that maintained a wide range of diversity, equity and inclusion practices. In a filing Wednesday, the department ended its challenge to U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher’s decision, which found that a February 2025 'Dear Colleague' letter and a follow‑on K–12 certification demand chilled educators’ First Amendment rights and violated federal procedural rules. The guidance had warned that race could not be considered in admissions, hiring, scholarships or 'all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life,' and suggested that efforts to increase diversity were discriminating against white and Asian American students, while tying compliance to continued federal money. The American Federation of Teachers and allied groups sued, arguing the campaign would gut long‑standing diversity programs and punish teachers’ classroom speech; Democracy Forward, which litigated the case, is calling the dropped appeal a major reprieve for public education. The move leaves Gallagher’s ruling intact nationwide, signaling at least a temporary retreat in the administration’s attempts to use funding threats to stamp out DEI across K–12 and higher education even as broader fights over race, curriculum and campus policy continue.