California joined other states led by Democrat on Thursday to sue the Trump administration, seeking to stop mass layoffs in the Department of Education, claiming that the cuts ascend to an illegal closure of their crucial work to administer student loans, protect civil rights and help poor districts and students with disabilities.
In the lawsuit, filed at the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, California Atty. General Rob Bonta joined lawyers representing 19 democratic states and the Columbia district. The complaint claims that the reductions of the personnel that the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced this week is an “reckless” attempt to carry out the desire of President Trump to close the department by making him not be able to carry out the work ordered by Congress.
The Trump administration began to dismantle the department this week, dismissing half of the agency's employees and carrying out what McMahon has said that it is key for the “final mission” of the department to no longer exist.
“It is a constitutional principle of mother rock that the president and his agencies cannot make law. Rather, they can only, and in fact, must implement the laws promulgated by Congress, including the statutes that create federal agencies and dictate their duties, “said the lawsuit.” The
Therefore, the Executive cannot directly abolish an agency or incapacitate it by cutting the personnel required to implement legitimately mandatory duties of the agency. ”
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the demand.
The lawsuit asks a judge to order a stop to the dismissals, which will come into force on March 21. The reduction of the staff would leave 2,183 workers in the department, below 4,133 in January.
Bonta filed the lawsuit against Aizona's lawyers, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
California receives billions in federal funds from the Department of Education for Students and Higher Education and Higher Education programs. The department has not been clear about how it will carry out its financing obligations, but this week said it will continue to do the work that Congress demands to do.
California receives approximately $ 16.3 billion annually in federal funds for school students K-12, or around $ 2,750 per student. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school system in the country, establishes its annual federal support at $ 1.26 billion.
Not all these dollars channel through the Department of Education. The important federal financing for early childhood education comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Gigantic Student Food Program is funded by the Department of Agriculture. The Unified only estimates that it receives $ 363 million to feed students from low -income families.
Around 80% of Los Angeles unified students qualify for the services financed by Title I aimed at providing academic support to students from low -income and poor families. Help includes tutoring, smaller classes, extracurricular programs, teacher training, advice and family participation. Another important financing area helps students with disabilities.
In higher education, the Department of Education also manages student loans for 43 million borrowers owed to the Government more than $ 1.5 billion. Around half of the students of the University of Cal State, for example, they receive student loans, a portfolio of more than $ 1 billion.
The department also manages the Pell Grant program, which grants more than $ 120 billion to 13 million students to help pay higher education. About $ 1.5 billion per year is reserved in Pell subsidies for students in California.
Questions have also arisen about the application of civil rights. As part of the layoffs, in San Francisco, the regional branch of the Department's civil rights office is already late with research on discrimination related to school, is closing. Six regional civil rights offices are also scheduled for closure.
Monday's lawsuit is one of the several who have submitted Bonta and the Attorney General of the State of Blue against the Trump administration.
On March 6, California joined seven other states demanding the Trump administration for cancellation of $ 250 million for them, $ 600 million throughout the country, for teacher training programs financed through the Department of Education. The administration said the programs promote that inappropriate and divisive ideologies “linked to diversity, equity and inclusion, known as Dei. A federal judge ordered on Monday the restored programs while reviewing the case.
