New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of seven other attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for “unlawfully canceling teacher pipeline grant programs that were authorized by Congress.” The Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) and Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant programs support K-12 teacher development efforts, improve student achievement, and help create a new teacher pipeline to fill positions in hard-to-staff schools in rural and urban areas. Both programs have helped teachers-in-training to graduate from teaching colleges – including at SUNY and CUNY – and fill positions in schools experiencing teacher shortages. Attorney General James and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to urgently restore funding and access to these programs.
“The power of the purse belongs to Congress, and the Department of Education cannot unilaterally cut millions of dollars in funding for teachers and students who rely on it,” said Attorney General James. “Kids in rural and underserved communities deserve access to a quality education, and programs like SEED and TQP help bring qualified teachers to classrooms that desperately need it. Slashing funding for these critical programs robs students of the opportunity to succeed and thrive. My office is suing the Department of Education to help teachers and students in communities nationwide.”
In early February, Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter cut millions of dollars in funding for TQP and SEED programs with boilerplate notices, and told grant recipients that ED views these grants as discriminatory. In reality, these programs have helped to establish teacher placements in underserved rural and urban school districts, develop critical curriculum and mentorship programs, and provide financial assistance to hundreds of teachers-in-training so that they can graduate from teaching colleges to fill positions in schools with teaching shortages.
In their lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition allege that ED violated the Administrative Procedure Act by unilaterally canceling funding for grant programs that were authorized by Congress to receive millions of dollars. The complaint asserts that this elimination of funding will immediately disrupt teacher workforce pipelines and destabilize local school systems. Without these programs, impacted rural and urban schools will have to resort to hiring long-term substitutes and teachers with emergency credentials, or unlicensed teachers who have obtained a temporary permit to teach in public schools that need staff.
In New York, SUNY and CUNY schools were granted more than $16 million in funding to help teachers graduate from teaching programs and fill positions in underserved school districts. Teachers and leaders trained by these programs were expected to serve thousands of New York students in high-need districts and subject areas. Additionally, dozens of educators in training, in the middle of the school year, have lost the stipends that allow them to provide for themselves and their families, and future candidates have lost the opportunity to enter the teaching profession or improve their qualifications to better serve their students.
Joining Attorney General James in filing today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and Wisconsin.
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