On June 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) was sued over its abrupt termination last year of 28 national professional development grants for teachers of English learners, which allegedly “destabilized” teacher pipelines in at least 12 states.
The USDE rescinded the grants in September 2025 due to “divisive ideology,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed the lawsuit alongside the National Education Association. The suit alleges that the cancellations violated the recipients’ rights under the First Amendment and other federal laws, damaged teacher certification pipelines in at least a dozen states, halted coaching and credential pathways for thousands of teachers, and deprived EL students of qualified educators.
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