AGs Sue Over Department of Education Cuts to Teacher Preparation
Led by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, a group of Attorneys General (AGs) from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Wisconsin is suing the Administration for recent cuts to U.S. Department of Education (ED) grants that support teacher preparation, totaling over $600 million.
The cuts, which ED recently announced, were cast as funds that train teachers and education agencies on “divisive ideologies,” impacting a field already experiencing shortages. Currently, over 400,000 positions are either vacant or being filled by teachers who lack full certification. Separately, three organizations, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the Maryland Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), and the National Center for Teacher Residencies, filed suit to challenge the termination of the grant programs. Grants that were terminated include three Congressionally appropriated programs—SEED (Supporting Effective Educator Development), TQP (Teacher Quality Partnership), and Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program (TSL).
The cancellation of these grants has impacted CEC members who are engaged in special educator preparation.