The Trump administration has agreed to drop its ban on diversity and equity initiatives in public schools in New Hampshire – and the rest of the country. That’s according to a ruling Wednesday by Federal Judge Landya McCafferty, which dismissed the case.
New Hampshire’s largest teachers union, four public school districts, and civil rights groups challenged the ban last year in a federal lawsuit, arguing it violated free speech and equal protection rights. Schools that violated the ban risked losing federal funding.
McCafferty temporarily blocked the ban in April while the parties litigated the case.
Earlier this month, the school districts, civil rights groups, and National Education Association of New Hampshire agreed to drop their lawsuit after the Trump administration told the court it would not withhold federal money from schools if they have diversity and equity programs.
It did not say why, but pointed to a similar legal challenge in Maryland. In that case, the Department of Justice agreed last month to drop enforcement of the ban in Maryland without explanation.
Gilles Bissonnette is the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire - one of the organizations that sued. He said the lawsuit was critical for educators in New Hampshire and nationally.
“That's why cases like these are just so, so critical to force the government to prove and demonstrate the necessity for why they're doing what they're doing,” Bissonnette said. “And here they certainly couldn't do that.”
In the lawsuit, New Hampshire educators said the ban left them fearful of investigation and concerned lessons on American history could violate the ban’s “systemic and structural racism” or “discriminatory policies and practices.”
In a statement Wednesday, Megan Tuttle, NEA-New Hampshire President, thanked the educators who joined the lawsuit.
“Their actions and the rulings from courts on this issue reaffirm that every student deserves the opportunity to learn in a school where they are valued, seen, and supported for who they are, not erased by political agendas,” Tuttle said. “And their leadership sends a clear message that educators, not politicians, belong at the center of decisions about teaching and learning.”
The agreement does not resolve two separate lawsuits challenging New Hampshire laws that seek to ban diversity and equity initiatives in schools and limit teaching on racism and discrimination.
