Attorney General Andrea Campbell has joined 21 other states in a lawsuit seeking to put the brakes on the Trump administration’s slashes to the Department of Education.
Campbell’s office filed the lawsuit today in the federal court in Boston.
“By attempting to dismantle the Department of Education which, among many things, funds educational programs that benefit low-income children and students with disabilities and enforces laws that prohibit discrimination in education, the Trump Administration is making it crystal clear that it does not prioritize our students, teachers or families,” said Campbell in a release announcing the suit. .
“Neither President Trump nor his Secretary have the power to demolish a congressionally-created department, and as Attorney General but most importantly as a mom, I will continue to hold this Administration accountable for illegal actions that harm our residents and economy,” she continued.
In Massachusetts, K-12 schools receive nearly $2 billion annually from the federal government to support special education, teacher salaries, social workers, professional development programs, after school programs, transportation, and reading and language specialists, according to the AG’s office.
The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s authority to dismantle the department, arguing instead that Congress must act.
Joining Campbell in the lawsuit are AG’s from New York, Hawaii, California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The Education Department announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 of its employees as part of an effort to slash staffing by half as step on the way to eliminating the department altogether.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who is also named in the suit, however said that the staff cuts are designed to direct more aid to students and reduce administrative overhead.
“So many of the programs are really excellent, so we need to make sure the money goes to the states,” McMahon said in an interview Tuesday on Fox News.
McMahon told employees to brace for profound cuts in a memo issued March 3, the day she was confirmed by the Senate. She said it was the department’s “final mission” to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the agency’s authority to states.
– Developing
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