NC AG Jeff Jackson sues Trump administration for cutting $50M from schools

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration for canceling $50 million in education grants to 18 Tar Heel school districts, including in Durham and Orange counties.

The Democratic attorney general accuses the U.S. Education Department of unlawfully terminating a Full-Service Community Schools grant that was being used in schools across North Carolina to support approximately 23,000 students, including in counties heavily impacted by Helene.

The grant recipients learned on Dec. 12 that the funding was being cut as of Dec. 31.

If allowed to stand, Jackson said it will force schools to shut down programs and potentially lay off staff in the middle of the school year.

“Our kids deserve better. A surprise cut of nearly $50 million from rural schools, with virtually no notice and no allegation of misuse, is unlawful and harmful,” Jackson said in a statement. “The Department of Education approved these programs, allowed schools to build them, and now it’s trying to pull the rug out from under dozens of rural communities. Our students shouldn’t be treated like that, and we’re going to court to protect them.”

North Carolina was joined by Maryland and the District of Columbia in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

Education Dept. accuses schools of promoting DEI

On Dec. 12, the Education Department announced it was canceling $168 million in community schools grants even though the funding was already approved by Congress, according to Education Week. The grants were approved in 2023 under the Biden administration.

The Education Department said its reason for canceling the community schools grants is that they promoted diversity, equity and inclusion, which the Trump administration maintains is against federal law.

A similar reason was given earlier this year to cancel multiple federal education grants, including those for teacher training and school-based mental health programs.

“The programs: violate the letter or purpose of Federal civil rights law, conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education; undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help; or constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds,” according to the Dec. 12 termination notices.

The North Carolina grant was awarded to Duke University to serve 55 schools in 18 districts in a project called the North Carolina Community Schools Coalition . The grant application makes multiple references to “systemic racism” and “structural racism” and mentions providing teachers with “racial equity training.”

“The Black Belt is comprised of 30 former slave counties, where mostly Black/African American people now live well below the state poverty threshold,” according to the grant application. “The NCCSC Initiative represents an opportunity to pivotally impact an area of the state in which the scars of centuries of racism and generational poverty run deepest.”

AG calls grant termination illegal

NCCSC appealed the grant termination, but the lawsuit says the appeal was rejected Dec. 29.

North Carolina’s lawsuit says the grants can only be terminated for performance-based reasons.

“The Department’s ‘review’ consisted entirely of searching for disfavored words and phrases in grantees’ applications, rather than evaluating ‘grantee performance’ as required by the regulations,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also says the Education Department violated federal law because Jackson says the U.S. Constitution gives Congress — not executive agencies — the authority to direct federal spending.

The American Federation of Teachers and a local nonprofit filed a separate federal lawsuit on Monday over community schools grant cuts in Chicago.

NC schools impacted by grant loss

The North Carolina grant was going to schools in these districts:

•Bertie County

•Buncombe County

•Durham County

•Graham County

•Granville County

•Halifax County

•Hertford County

•Hyde County

•Iredell County

•Northampton County

•Orange County

•Pasquotank-Elizabeth City Schools

•Swain County

•Vance County

•Warren County

•Washington County

Grant cut ‘hits rural communities hardest’

“Community schools embody our commitment to excellence in education, ensuring every child —regardless of ZIP code — has access to wraparound services that support learning,” according to a statement from the state Department of Public Instruction. “These federal funds serve our most rural and under-resourced communities, providing mental health support, after-school programs, and family services that improve attendance and achievement.”

In rural Hyde County, Superintendent Melanie Shaver said they’ve used the community schools grant to provide health options, food and clothing resources and parent education. Shaver credited the funding with improving student attendance and readiness to learn.

“When funding like this is canceled, it hits rural communities hardest,” Shaver said in a statement. “This grant levels the playing field by ensuring students have the supports they need to succeed. Canceling this program pulls resources from communities that already have the fewest options and the greatest needs.”

The grant helped several Western North Carolina communities recover from the damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

“The Community School infrastructure was a key reason United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County was able to step into a central role in relief and recovery following Hurricane Helene,” Dan Leroy, CEO of the United Way of Asheville City and Buncombe County, said in a statement. “Community School Coordinators helped organize donations from across the state, and connected families to vital resources like food, clothing, household goods, cash, and temporary housing,

“Family Resource Centers — designed to respond to community-identified needs — did exactly that, serving as trusted hubs of support in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.”

NC filed multiple lawsuits against Trump administration

The new legal action is the latest lawsuit that Jackson has joined other Democratic state attorneys general in filing against the Trump administration.

Jackson joined in a federal lawsuit after the Education Department froze $6.8 billion in education funding, including $165 million for North Carolina schools. The lawsuit was dropped after the money was released.

More recently, Jackson recovered $17 million in federal grants for the state from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security after joining in a federal lawsuit, The News & Observer previously reported.

The Republican-controlled state Senate passed a bill to block Jackson from being able to sue the Trump administration. The House hasn’t acted on the legislation.