Attorney General Ford Sues Trump Administration Over Unlawful Conditions on Funding for K-12 Schools

Carson City, NV — On Friday, April 25, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.

On April 3, 2025, the DOE informed state and local agencies that they must accept the Trump administration’s new and legally incoherent interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education funds. Nevada, like many other states, refused to certify its compliance with these new requirements, explaining that there is no lawful or practical way to do so given the department’s vague, contradictory and unsupported interpretation of Title VI. In filing the lawsuit, AG Ford and the coalition seek to bar the department from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.

"The Trump administration is attempting to deny federal funding for our children’s education if we do not comply with a legally incomprehensible order to destroy the programs that protect those children from discrimination,” said AG Ford. “Complying with these mandates would open Nevada up to litigation and would remove programs intended to protect our children. Neither of these outcomes are acceptable, and, as such, I will see the president in court.”

The DOE provides Nevada with almost $1 billion in congressionally mandated financial support each year for a wide variety of needs and services related to children and education. This funding includes financial support to ensure that students from low-income families have the same access to high-quality education as their peers; provide special education services; recruit and train highly skilled and dedicated teachers; fund programming for non-native speakers to learn English; and provide support to vulnerable children in foster care and without housing. As a condition of receiving these funds, state and local education agencies provide written assurances they will comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and Nevada has consistently and regularly certified its compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations.

However, on April 3, the DOE issued a letter that conditioned continued federal financial assistance on state and local education agencies certifying that they are not operating programs inconsistent with the Trump administration’s view that efforts supporting diversity, equity and inclusion are unlawful. The letter forced state and local agencies to choose between two untenable options: (1) refuse to certify compliance based on the DOE's undefined viewpoint on what constitutes unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion programs, curriculum, instruction and policies, and place federal funding in peril or (2) certify compliance; attempt to identify and eliminate lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion to the detriment of students; and still face liability for failing to fully comply with the Department’s vague and ill-defined order.

Faced with this choice, Nevada informed the department that it continues to stand by its prior certifications of compliance with Title VI and its lawfully issued implementing regulations in the DOE’s possession but would not assent to the unlawfully issued certification.

In the lawsuit, AG Ford and the multistate coalition assert that the DOE’s attempt to terminate federal education funding based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers and the Administrative Procedures Act.

AG Ford joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin in filing the lawsuit.

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