From kindergarten through college, Trump regime will screw students by dismantling Department of Education, Massachusetts and other states charge in suit

Massachusetts and 19 other states and the District of Columbia today sued the Trump regime for its attempts to dismantle the federal Department of Education, which they say will cause "immense damage" to their educational systems and students.

It's the latest of several suits brought in US District Court in Boston by both the state and private groups against the unceasing string of White House diktats. As in the other cases, the state and other plaintiffs basically say the law doesn't let you just destroy entire government departments and programs with the snap of a small finger, that even a would-be king still has to spend the money Congress told him to on programs Congress enacted and that even Elon Musk and the former wrestling exec now in charge of the Department of Education have to follow the federal law that requires detailed explanations of massive policy changes and a chance for affected people and states to comment.

The states are seeking a judicial declaration that the president and his minions are violating both the Constitution and the Administrative Procedures Act and an order to make them cut it out and restore the programs they are about to destroy.

In the specific case of the Department of Education, the states lay out the case how a recently announced plan to lay off nearly half the department's staff in a couple of weeks - and the regime's ultimate goal to simply shut the department, will harm students at every level:

K-12

These impacts will include teacher shortages from the loss in salary funding, which in turn will result in increased class sizes. The impacts will also include a loss of professional development and salaries for special education teachers, paraprofessionals, reading specialists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and social workers, which in turn will result in lost educational opportunities for students that cannot be recovered or remedied. Without Department of Education financial support, states will lose critical services from special education students and students with IEPs. States would lose funding for assistive technology for students with disabilities, and funding for transportation to help children receive the services and programming they need. The dismantling of the Department will also result in the termination of afterschool programs.

Regardless of what alternative resources are put in the place of the Department of Education, the process of the Department's dismantling will create and has created chaos, disruption, uncertainty, delays and confusion for Plaintiff States and their residents. States anticipating federal fund disbursements do not know whether staff will be employed and able to be contacted regarding those disbursements. Students at state universities do not know whether their federal student aid packages will be timely processed and made available before the Fall 2025 semester begins.

Also, the laying off of every lawyer in the the Office for Civil Rights and the closing of its regional offices, including one in Boston means:

Without a functioning OCR, school districts in Plaintiff States may be emboldened to restrict access to quality education and ignore complaints of discrimination or hate against students based on race, gender identity, disability status, religion, and immigration status. Students with current complaints will likely see no meaningful resolution, with cases backlogged due to the shortage of employees to resolve them. Students facing discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual assault will lose a critical avenue to report their case.

Higher education

Included in this system is the administration of Pell Grants, work-study programs and subsidized loans. The Department awards more than $120 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans to approximately 13 million students. Much of this funding is sent directly to colleges and universities, including public colleges and universities in the Plaintiff States. If Program Participation Renewals are not processed in a timely manner, it could impact the ability of institutions to operate and most of their student to attend the institution by functionally eliminating the availability of financial aid. ...

On information and belief, the dismantling of the Department will result in higher costs to attend institutions of higher education. Not only will federal funding for Pell grants, work-study programs and subsidized loans be at risk, but so too will the Department's administration of those programs, without which they cannot operate even if they were fully funded. Without these federal programs supporting students of higher education, the cost of pursuing higher education will increase and fewer students will have the opportunity to attend college. For many state university systems, disruption to or loss of Pell grants would be an existential threat, especially to their mission to serve first generation college students.

The department also administers the FAFSA program, through which college students apply for financial aid - and provides oversight of loan providers to ensure they are not screwing students who take out loans.

On information and belief, in addition to these disruptions of the administration of Federal Student Aid generally is the disruption that will come to the administration of FAFSA applications specifically. With the destruction of these multiple aspects of the FSA program at the Department, the Department is deprived of the administrative systems necessary to administer and process the millions of FAFSA applications the Department receives. Indeed, the dismantling of the Department comes just as the college admissions and decisionmaking process is at its peak, with the FAFSA application deadline merely two and a half months from the RIF. The President's Directive and the Agency Defendants' implementation of it has resulted in mass uncertainty regarding whether and how FAFSA applications will be processed, and will result in delays and obstructions in the immediate future.