Wisconsin is among 19 states suing the U.S. Department of Education over its efforts to eliminate K-12 funding for states that don’t agree to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices it says are illegal.
The legal complaint filed April 25 in Massachusetts district court seeks to halt those efforts by the Trump administration. It argues the recent actions “weaponize an intentionally vague, and unlawful interpretation” of existing civil rights law as they “imperil more than $13.8 billion that are spend to educate our youth.”
The Trump administration argues DEI programs are themselves discriminatory against White and Asian people, calling them a “shameful echo of a darker period in this country’s history.” Referencing policies focused on admissions, hiring and more, its officials cite violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on race-based college admissions.
The lawsuit argues that interpretation by the Trump administration “(breaks) sharply with the understandings of educators, the legal community, and all prior administrations.”
Specifically at issue in the lawsuit is an April 3 directive from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. That directive says state K-12 agencies will lose federal funding and face litigation unless they sign paperwork certifying they will not break existing antidiscrimination laws and legal precedents, including through the use of DEI.
Wisconsin is among 22 states that have refused to sign the paperwork, according to data from an EdWeek tracker on April 29. The most recent deadline to sign the paperwork was April 24.
Plaintiffs in the Massachusetts lawsuit include states that have not signed the DEI paperwork.
Like other states challenging the Trump administration, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has called the recent demands “unauthorized, unlawful, and unconstitutionally vague.” In a letter in early April, the DPI wrote that Wisconsin already certifies its compliance with the law to receive funding; it also alleges the federal government has failed to define specific illegal DEI practices and sidestepped legal procedures.
Those arguments are mirrored in the recent lawsuit.
Among other things, states joined in the lawsuit are asking a judge to find the April 3 DEI paperwork directive illegal, and “null and void.”
“There is every reason to expect that (the federal education department) will unlawfully terminate funding,” the lawsuit reads. “Indeed, as a new and illegal course of enforcement — one that skips over investigation or other meaningful opportunity for review — this Administration has abruptly terminated or frozen funding for educational institutions and programs that it views as acting contrary to its erroneous interpretation of the law.”
Related to K-12 schools, the Trump administration is more broadly attempting to ban teachings that the U.S. is “fundamentally racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory.” It argues DEI practices are used to justify diversity, but based in the “false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism.'”
Other lawsuits are also challenging the Trump administration’s attempts to withhold funding for states that don’t end K-12 DEI practices. Plaintiffs include two national unions — the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association — and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), among others.
Judges in Maryland, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C., all issued separate rulings last week in favor of plaintiffs. Those cases are ongoing.
Underly says Wisconsin will fight for federal funds
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s website, as of April 25, 2025, includes information about the impact of federal funding on Wisconsin. The U.S. Department of Education has said it will rescind federal funds for K-12 education if the state’s DPI does not agree to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which the federal government contends are in violation of the law.
Wisconsin received over $840 million in federal funding this school year, accounting for 8% of school funding in the state, according to the DPI. The department has launched a public campaign about its reliance on those dollars to fund school lunch programs, districts with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students, programs for kids with disabilities, jobs and more.
During an April 21 event at the Wauwatosa Public Library, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly took questions from the public about potential cuts to those dollars. She said the DPI would do everything possible to ensure Wisconsin schools receive federal funds, and referenced legal disputes between the Trump administration in other states.
“This is the test, right? About how much your pain tolerance is,” Underly said April 21.
Underly also said Congress has the power to fund K-12 education, and therefore the only way for the federal government to legally stop providing that funding is through congressional action.
“That being said, the rules to the game — I don’t know anymore. They seem to change,” Underly added.
About 70 people attended an event held by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Monday, April 21, 2025 at the Wauwatosa Public Library. DPI staff, including State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly, discussed the uses of federal and state funding for K-12 education.
Opposition to the DPI’s position
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a law firm involved in several K-12 specific cases in the state, wrote a public letter criticizing Underly’s stance against signing the federal DEI paperwork.
“What (the education department) is requesting is neither novel nor burdensome. It is a certification of compliance with existing civil rights law,” WILL attorneys Cory Brewer and Dan Lennington wrote. The DEI paperwork “seeks to ensure that public education focuses on student achievement, not radical ideology,” they wrote.
WILL lawyers also criticized the DPI for its advocacy to increase state funding for K-12 education amid potential federal funding cuts.
“Refusal by DPI to sign the certification form places those funds in jeopardy — for seemingly political reasons,” WILL attorneys wrote.
Evers says he opposes efforts to ‘gut funding’ for schools
In an April 28 statement on the lawsuit, Gov. Tony Evers said the Trump administration is attempting to cut public education funding in order to “help pay for tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.”
“I will fight against every effort by President Trump and the Trump Administration to gut funding for our kids and schools. Period,” Evers said in a prepared statement. He said people in Wisconsin want checks and balances in government to ensure “no one person has the sole power to make decisions like this unchecked.”
“It is unconscionable that Republicans in Congress — including Wisconsin’s own delegation — are abdicating their constitutional duties and responsibilities by doing and saying nothing to stop the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine our constitutional checks and balances,” Evers said.
About the lawsuit
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights Craig Trainor.
The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Along with Wisconsin, other states that have joined the lawsuit are: New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin joins lawsuit calling Trump actions on DEI ‘illegal’