(CN) — A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s Department of Education cannot slash congressionally approved funds to teacher training grants unless a lower court deems the cuts lawful.
Earlier this month, eight Democratic state attorneys general sued the department after it announced more than $600 million in cuts to federal grants allocated for recruiting and preparing educators to work in high-need school districts.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, a Joe Biden appointee, granted a temporary restraining order to the states that barred the Department of Education from enforcing the cuts as the case is being litigated. Looking to start cutting the funding as soon as possible, the Trump administration asked the First Circuit to pause the restraining order until further notice to prevent “irreparable harm” to the administration.
But the effort proved unsuccessful when, on Friday, a trio of appellate judges found the administration offered “no compelling rebuttal” to Joun’s order.
“Any irreparable harm arguably caused by the TRO is not of a type and magnitude that grabs equities’ emergency attention when compared to the harm that the recipients could well suffer if the TRO is stayed,” U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote in the 16-page order.
“The states provided detailed evidence below of the practical impacts of cutting off grants — some which have already begun to occur and which cannot be fully remedied with late-arriving funds — including staff layoffs, program disruptions, and the halting of stipends to currently enrolled teachers,” the judge added.
The funding at issue supports two federal grants, the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development, which were established by Congress in 2008 and 2011, respectively. If the funds are cut, the eight suing states alone stand to lose $250 million that supports thousands of teachers serving tens of thousands of students, according to the lawsuit.
That would “weaken the very teacher pipelines in their jurisdictions that Congress intended to strengthen through the TQP and SEED programs,” Kayatta wrote, upholding Joun’s restraining order.
Kayatta penned the Friday ruling on behalf of a three-judge panel that also included U.S. Circuit Judges Lara Montecalvo and Gustavo Gelpi, both Joe Biden appointees.
“Once again, Donald Trump tried to cut funding for teachers, and once again, a judge denied his attempt,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the eight suing attorneys general, said in a statement Friday following the appellate ruling. “We’re going to continue our case to stand up for teachers and students in communities across the nation.”
“The Trump Administration’s cancellation of critical education funding is shameful and illegal,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “We are thrilled with today’s Court of Appeals decision, and we will not rest in our fight to block this cruel termination of programs for kids with special needs and those in urban and rural districts. We will always stand up for our students, families, and educators in New Jersey.”
In addition to New York and New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland and Wisconsin are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The Trump administration has signaled it would potentially seek emergency intervention from the Supreme Court if the First Circuit declined to halt Joun’s order.
But the Department of Education didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday — calls to its public information office were met with an automated message indicating that it is “temporarily closed at this time.”
Three teacher education associations filed a separate lawsuit over the slated grant funding cuts. That case lies in the District of Maryland.
President Donald Trump previously called for the total elimination of the Education Department. On Thursday, he signed an executive order to dismantle it.