Lawsuit Challenges Ed. Dept.’s Authority to Ban Diversity Programs, Alter Teaching on Race

The Office of Civil Rights’ Dear Colleague letter that calls for an end to all race-conscious programs and “discriminatory” history lessons is an overreach of the Education Department’s authority to determine what can be taught in classrooms and misinterprets the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on race-conscious admissions, a lawsuit filed Tuesday argues.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, is the first legal challenge to OCR’s guidance, which gave colleges and schools just two weeks to eliminate or alter programs, some of which have for decades provided academic support for marginalized students. Colleges that don’t comply with OCR’s guidance by Friday, February 28, could have their federal funding revoked, the letter said.