Attorney General James Sues U.S. Department of Education for Cutting Grant Programs for Teachers

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of seven other attorneys general today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for unlawfully canceling teacher pipeline grant programs that were authorized by Congress. The Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) and Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant programs support K-12 teacher development efforts, improve student achievement, and help create a new teacher pipeline to fill positions in hard-to-staff schools in rural and urban areas. Both programs have helped hundreds of teachers-in-training to graduate from teaching colleges – including at SUNY and CUNY – and fill positions in schools experiencing teacher shortages. Attorney General James and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to urgently restore funding and access to these programs.

“The power of the purse belongs to Congress, and the Department of Education cannot unilaterally cut millions of dollars in funding for teachers and students who rely on it,” said Attorney General James. “Kids in rural and underserved communities deserve access to a quality education, and programs like SEED and TQP help bring qualified teachers to classrooms that desperately need it. Slashing funding for these critical programs robs students of the opportunity to succeed and thrive. My office is suing the Department of Education to help teachers and students in communities nationwide.”

In early February, Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter cut millions of dollars in funding for TQP and SEED programs with boilerplate notices, and told grant recipients that ED views these grants as discriminatory. In reality, these programs have helped to establish teacher placements in underserved rural and urban school districts, develop critical curriculum and mentorship programs, and provide financial assistance to hundreds of teachers-in-training so that they can graduate from teaching colleges to fill positions in schools with teaching shortages.

In their lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition allege that ED violated the Administrative Procedure Act by unilaterally canceling funding for grant programs that were authorized by Congress to receive millions of dollars. The complaint asserts that this elimination of funding will immediately disrupt teacher workforce pipelines and destabilize local school systems. Without these programs, impacted rural and urban schools will have to resort to hiring long-term substitutes and teachers with emergency credentials, or unlicensed teachers who have obtained a temporary permit to teach in public schools that need staff. 

In New York, SUNY and CUNY schools were granted more than $16 million in funding to help teachers graduate from teaching programs and fill positions in underserved school districts. Teachers and leaders trained by these programs were expected to serve thousands of New York students in high-need districts and subject areas. Additionally, dozens of educators in training, in the middle of the school year, have lost the stipends that allow them to provide for themselves and their families, and future candidates have lost the opportunity to enter the teaching profession or improve their qualifications to better serve their students. 

At Lehman College, a CUNY school, the Lehman Urban Transformative Education: Multilingual Teachers and Leaders for the Bronx (LUTE-MULTI) TQP program trains and develops hundreds of teachers to serve multilingual students and students with disabilities in high-need schools in the Bronx. This incredible program would be cut entirely, leaving thousands of students without the accessible education they deserve.

SEED programs at SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo Public Schools, Amherst Central School District, and Kenmore Tonawanda Union-Free School District would be cancelled, impacting 100 teachers and approximately 6,000 Pre-K-12 students. The TQP programs at SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo Public Schools, Buffalo Academy of Science Charter, and REACH Academy Charter School would also be cancelled, impacting more than 120 teachers and approximately 13,000 students. 

“Teacher pipeline programs are vital to recruiting and supporting teachers in rural regions, high-needs districts and in-demand subject areas. Without educators to fill these spots, New York’s students will suffer and their learning will lag,” said Melinda Person, President of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). “Americans did not vote for stripping opportunities to succeed away from teachers and kids -- all to give tax breaks to billionaires – and we are proud our attorney general is making it clear that our public schools are not for sale.”

“We are already dealing with a national teacher shortage. In New York City, our special education programs have hundreds of vacancies Who is harmed by these vacancies? Our students,” said Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). “That's why we stand with Attorney General Letitia James as she fights to make sure every child receives the education they are legally entitled to.”

This is the latest action by Attorney General James to defend federally funded programs that help vulnerable communities. Last month, Attorney General James sued the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for illegally slashing funding for life-saving medical research. In January, Attorney General James led a coalition of attorneys general to stop the implementation of a Trump administration policy that orders the withholding of trillions of dollars in funding that every state in the country relies on to provide essential services to millions of Americans.

Joining Attorney General James in filing today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and Wisconsin.