Major Victory for Public Education & Civil Rights

A major win for students and educators: the Trump-Vance administration has officially dropped its appeal of a federal court ruling that struck down the so-called “Dear Colleague Letter” published by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on February 14, 2025, as well as the subsequent Certification requirement that threatened termination of funding and criminal penalty for noncompliance. The letter and certification are now permanently unconstitutional and unenforceable nationwide.

The lawsuit, led by the American Federation of Teachers and others, stopped an unlawful attempt to weaken decades of civil rights protections by threatening schools that supported diversity, equity, inclusion, honest history, and inclusive learning environments.

As AFT President Randi Weingarten said, “You don’t always win when you fight—but you never win without a fight.”

Why This Matters 

The negative impact of these unlawful federal threats had chilling effects across the country, contributing to preemptive actions such as the cutting or alteration of courses, curricula, or whole academic programs and the elimination of related support programs, services, offices and centers that could be in any way connected to the teaching of race, true history, diversity, equity or inclusion. These, in turn, increased stress, uncertainty, fear and anger amongst students and those who care for, support, and educate them. As our members know, we at MATC were not immune from this impact.  

The bottom line is that civil rights still matter. DEI is not illegal. Supporting students is our mission—and collective action works.