The federal government has withdrawn its appeal of a federal court decision that blocked its attempt to withhold billions of dollars in education funding from schools and states that refused to certify they had no diversity and equity programs.
Earlier in 2025, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that the federal government failed to follow proper procedures and that the “Dear Colleague” letter, published by the U.S. Department of Education in February 2025, threatened educators’ free speech. The judge did not actually rule on the contents of the letters but opined that the manner in which the Department of Education changed its policies violated decision-making procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act. The federal government initially appealed the decision, but withdrew its appeal in January 2026; the federal court decision remains in effect.
Many schools and universities shuttered diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to comply with the now moot policy. Due to the federal court’s ruling halting this specific funding threat, this avenue to withhold funds is at least momentarily on hold.
What does this mean for your district? Many school advocates are regarding the end of this litigation as a victory for schools, who feared losing federal funding over programs that could be considered diversity, equity, or inclusion programs. While this specific approach has been reversed, the federal government continues to use other methods to move its agenda forward. It is unclear what will happen to the Title VI investigations the Department launched in March 2025, all of which are based on this “Dear Colleague” letter. Even so, many schools and universities should still remain vigilant to avoid drawing attention with a program that might cause a direct investigation from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.