We missed you in June, but we've been busy! Here's a shot of our resource table at NEA's Racial and Social Justice Conference in Portland, OR. Read more in our staff update.

LEGAL & POLICY UPDATES

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RELEASES FY25 EDUCATION FUNDS

The initial uncertainty about the release of nearly $7 billion in FY25 federal education formula funds to school districts is over. Throughout July, the Department of Education (ED) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) withheld this funding, which was due to be dispersed on July 1. Approximately $1.3 billion of the withheld funds for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B) program was released on July 18, with the remaining $5.6 billion in funds released on July 25.

According to Politico: An OMB spokesperson said in a statement that: "'Initial findings have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda, ...[which] marked the administration’s most substantive public comments on the matter to date."

Affected funding streams, all of which are formula-funded education programs (not competitive grants), included:

• Title II-A ($2.19 billion) - resources for teachers and school leaders to support effective instruction
• Title III-A ($890 million) - resources to support English learners
• Title I-C ($376 million) - resources to support migrant students
• Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) ($715 million) - resources to support adult learners
• Title IV-B ($1.33 billion) - resources to support before- and after-school programs
• Title IV-A ($1.38 billion) - flexible funding for school districts for student support and academic enrichment

While the release of this funding is considered an important win, which resulted from sustained pressure from many groups, there is concern that ED may impose new requirements on how states and grantees can spend the money and/or attempt to rescind funds before they are spent.

Among other things, ten Republican Senators requested the cooperation of OMB Director Russell Vought in the “faithful implementation” of the continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Trump earlier this year, asserting that this action “is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states…because we know local communities know how to best serve students and families.” The letter did note that, "We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs. However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds."

Related stories:

• Trump Tells States He’s Holding Back $6.8 Billion for Schools (Education Week, June 30)
• Education Department freezes cash for school districts, teacher training, migrant students (Politico, June 30)
• ‘None of us were worrying about this’: Trump’s latest school money move has state authorities scrambling (Politico, July 2)

ISSUES TO WATCH

This week, the Department of Justice released a 9-page guidance document outlining its position on "unlawful discrimination" for recipients of federal funding. The document lists Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) policies and practices that DOJ considers unlawful and suggests “best practices” to help entities "avoid legal pitfalls."

With the release of this document, the Administration continues to distort the Supreme Court’s decision in the 2023 Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) case, stretching its reasoning beyond college admissions and beyond the direct consideration of race as a criterion for receiving tangible benefits. The Administration replaces carefully-considered, legally sound guidance from previous administrations with thinly-veiled threats of adverse legal and financial actions. We urge federally funded institutions to seek accurate legal counsel rather than be misled by this overreach, and we remain confident that the courts will reject this new attempt to undermine diversity efforts.

Related: The Strange Use of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard to Control Teaching and Learning (Knight First Amendment Institute, June 4) - "Federal agencies are using Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to assert control over teaching, learning, curriculum, and hiring in public and private schools and universities," according to Olatunde C. Johnson.

A new lawsuit filed by the Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence earlier this month challenges the constitutionality of an admissions policy used by Boston Public Schools for its three exam schools (Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science).

The lawsuit "alleges that the School Committee designed and implemented the Tier System as a racial proxy to reduce the number of white students admitted to the Exam Schools," and that this policy, which is based on socioeconomic factors and geography, assigns students based on race rather than merit.

A prior lawsuit filed by the Boston Parent Coalition challenging a past iteration of this policy was appealed to the Supreme Court but was not granted review.

A similar lawsuit in involving the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, which is part of a series of legal challenges against specialized schools, was also denied review by the Supreme Court in 2024.

We will be monitoring this issue closely.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) and the Tennessee AG’s Office recently sued the U.S. Department of Education in an attempt to deem the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program unconstitutional.

HSIs are institutions of higher education with enrollment of at least 25% Hispanic students. The lawsuit argues that basing eligibility for federal grant opportunities on the demographic makeup of the student body is a form of racial discrimination.

NCSD STAFF UPDATES

What We've Been Up to Recently

NCSD OUTREACH: NEA RACIAL & SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE

In July, NCSD Director Gina Chirichigno traveled to Portland, Oregon to table at NEA's Racial and Social Justice Conference. We handed out copies of P&R issues on Brown at 70 and Milliken at 50, The Interconnection Between School Finance and Segregation, an article about Pauli Murray and the Rosenwald Fellows that was reprinted in P&R, and the executive summary for Zoe Burkholder's paper on The Impact of Brown v. Board of Education on Black Teachers Outside of the South, 1934-1974. We also attended several workshop sessions. We were extremely grateful for this opportunity to connect with committed educators all across the country!

INTERN SEASON IS WINDING DOWN!

This summer, NCSD hosted four remarkable undergraduate interns from Yale's Education Studies program: Janic Aguirre, Esha Bolar, Nicole Manning, and Maya Moseley. We also had the pleasure of working with a Research Assistant from the Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic at Georgetown Law, Jakayla Blackshear. We continue to be impressed and inspired by the students that spend their summers with us.

Summer 2025 cohort: We appreciate all of your hard work and wish you the best as you head back to school! We look forward to staying in touch.

LEGAL & POLICY UPDATES - PART TWO

VIA LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

Recent LDF statements that may be of interest to our network:

• LDF Mourns the Loss of James Ferguson, Beloved Civil Rights Champion
• LDF Condemns Congress’ Passage of Cruel and Destructive Reconciliation Bill
• Two Years After Supreme Court’s Ruling in SFFA v. Harvard/UNC, LDF Denounces Misuse of Court Decision in Widespread Attacks Against Racial Justice
• LDF Opposes Department of Defense Directive to Remove the Names of Civil and Human Rights Icons from Navy Ships
• LDF Denounces Baseless House Oversight Hearing Attacking Nonprofits

UPDATE ON EQUITY ASSISTANCE CENTER LAWSUIT

Trump Must Pause Efforts to Halt Funds to Desegregate Schools (Bloomberg, July 30) - "The Education Department must continue distributing congressionally-authorized grant funds to a civil rights group [Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium Inc.] to desegregate US public schools, a district court ruled Wednesday."

CONVERSATIONS ON THE HILL

GROUPS RALLY TO DEFEND NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION AMID ATTACK IN CONGRESS

GOP Renews Push to Revoke Federal Charter for Nation’s Largest Teachers’ Union By Sarah D. Sparks (Education Week, July 16) - "For the third Congress in a row, GOP lawmakers are pushing to strip the nation’s largest teachers’ union of its federal charter. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. and Reps. Mark Harris, R-N.C., Mary Miller, R-Ill., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C. on Wednesday introduced the latest proposal to revoke the National Education Association’s nearly 120-year-old charter."

Nearly 500 Groups Urge Congress to Defend the National Education Association’s Right to Advocate - A letter submitted to Congress by The Leadership Conference, signed by nearly 500 national, state, local and international organizations, expressed solidarity for the NEA.

• H.R. 4450/S.2310 - A bill to repeal the Federal charter for the National Education Association. Sponsors: Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

NCSD MEMBER UPDATES

NEWS FROM ACROSS OUR COUNTRY

National -

• ‘Pairing schools’: One strategy, two very different outcomes - A recent Education Week "project explores [school pairing] through the story of Caldwell Parish, a rural, politically conservative Louisiana district that did what few others have pulled off: it restructured its elementary schools and integrated them in the process."
• Opinion: If The Department Of Education Falls, So Do Black Families (Essence, July 29) - "Black mothers have always been at the forefront of justice movements. We’ve fought for school desegregation, curriculum reform, and fair funding. We are raising the next generation of thinkers, leaders, and freedom fighters."
• Why Are Class-Based Diversity Solutions Under Fire? The Surprising Politics Behind School Integration (WellbeingWhisper, July 22) - "But as resistance to both K-12 and higher-ed class-based diversity initiatives makes clear, the battle over who is offered an equal chance is as much political as it is policy-centric. For teachers, parents, and policy experts tracking these debates, this is one thing that is sure: the search for fair schools and colleges is only starting, and the answers no matter how rigorously documented will require more than great data to withstand the [political] storms."
• Debate Over Improving Public Schools Is Dividing Democrats (Wall Street Journal, June 27) - "In the past few years, Republicans, including Trump, have castigated public schools, starting with Covid-19-era school closures. Red states have enacted a slew of education laws, including public funding for private schools and restrictions on progressive classroom teachings. Democrats have largely focused on increasing school funding and criticizing Trump, but their alternative agenda has been less clear."
• How School Choice Complicates District Bond Elections (Education Week, May 30) - "Families who 'vote with their feet' by transferring their children out of their residential school districts may be less likely to vote at the ballot box in school bond elections, new research concludes."
• As Federal Education Cuts Loom, Future Teachers are Caught in the Crosshairs (The Progressive Magazine, May 21) - "Teacher diversity efforts—many of which were supported by now-defunded TQP grants—are among the most vulnerable. As of early 2025, over two-thirds of federally funded teacher residency programs with a stated focus on diversity have either frozen recruitment or reported scaling back operations, according to AACTE."
• Has America Given Up on Children’s Learning? (New York Times, May 10) - "Mr. Trump has begun a bevy of investigations into how schools handle race and transgender issues, and has demanded that the curriculum be 'patriotic' — a priority he does not have the power to enact, since curriculum is set by states and school districts. None of it adds up to an agenda on learning."

Arkansas -

• Keeping The Legacy Of The Little Rock Nine Alive (National Parks Traveler, April 30) - "If you visit Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and take a ranger-led tour, expect to literally walk in the footsteps of nine teens who battled for civil rights....Established in 1998, this National Park Service unit is unique because Little Rock Central is the only operating high school designated as a National Historic Site."

Colorado -

• Denver to adjust school boundaries every 5 years under new policy (Chalkbeat Colorado, June 13) - "Denver Public Schools will have to 'analyze and adjust' school enrollment boundaries every five years under a policy unanimously approved Thursday by the school board....DPS has not redrawn school boundaries districtwide in at least 30 years. Many school boundaries have remained unchanged since 1995. That’s when DPS ended a court-ordered cross-city busing system put in place to racially integrate Denver’s schools."

Florida -

• A once segregated hotel in Sarasota could get upgrades (ABC7 WWSB, July 21) - "A Sarasota hotel that was once a place for African-Americans to stay during the Jim Crow era could soon get upgrades. On Monday, the City Commission held a meeting to discuss potential next steps for the Colson Hotel. The community initiative, Save the Colson, presented a plan to refurbish the building that’s been sitting on 1425 8th St. since 1925....'We’re hoping whatever they put here has some type of representation of that history located inside this building,' said Sarasota resident Walter Gilbert."

Georgia -

• Jonesboro Rosenwald School's history preserved after rejuvenation project effort (WABE, June 25) - "A school built during segregation to give Black kids in the South a quality education will now become a museum and community center."
• City of Jonesboro renames street that segregated Black and white communities during Jim Crow (WABE, June 23) - "On a partly cloudy afternoon, folks gathered at an intersection on Irving Street leading into a quiet neighborhood in Jonesboro.....Here, officials reclaimed the town’s history by renaming a street that once divided Black and white communities during the Jim Crow era."

Indiana -

• Opinion: Born into Jim Crow, she lived to witness DEI debates (IndyStar, July 9) - "[The late] Lexie Webster lived a life that was not afforded to Black women born 96 years ago. She did it by bearing the psychological burden of entering places where she was not welcome and refusing to leave....She didn't necessarily record any historic firsts, beyond integrating Mapleton-Fall Creek, but she was part of a generation of Black Americans who demanded to be fully American in public, education, culture and the workplace."

Illinois -

• Juneteenth: How classroom lessons sparked a community-wide celebration (Chalkbeat Chicago, June 19) - "[G]ood intentions don’t replace responsible storytelling. Proximity to a story doesn’t equal ownership. It was a lesson in what it means to approach this work with the respect it deserves."

Kentucky -

• Western High alumni reflect on pride, perseverance, past; though building is gone, memories endure (Owensboro Times, July 21) - "Western’s legacy stretches back to the fight for educational equity during a time of stark inequality. The school’s roots were shaped by the 1883 Claybrook v. Owensboro case, in which a federal judge ruled that separate but unequal schools for Black children violated the 14th Amendment. That decision forced Owensboro to equalize funding for Black education, a landmark moment in Kentucky’s history."

Louisiana -

• Consent decrees force schools to desegregate. The Trump administration is striking them down (The Guardian, July 14) - Quoting Deuel Ross of the Legal Defense Fund: "The government as a plaintiff who represents the American people, the people of that parish, has an obligation to make sure that the district has done everything that it’s supposed to have done to comply with the federal court order in the case before it gets released, and the court itself has its own independent obligation to confirm that there’s no vestiges of discrimination left in the school district that are traceable to either present or past discrimination."
• Separate and not equal: Fight for school desegregation in Caddo Parish (KTBS, July 15) - "The fight to desegregate public schools is well documented in courts and history, but it also lives on through the voices and memories of those in Shreveport who experienced it firsthand."

Massachusetts -

• Opinion: 71 years later, Massachusetts must deliver on the promise of Brown vs. Board of Education (CommonWealth Beacon, May 18) - "Two years ago, Brown’s Promise, a national nonprofit, was launched to combat school segregation in the US. This week, the first state chapter of Brown’s Promise is opening here in Massachusetts – a place with a rich history, both for better and worse, in the fight to ensure quality education for all."

Michigan -

• Rosa Parks' former home in Detroit has earned local historic designation detroit (CBS News, July 3) - "The former Detroit home of the late civil rights activist Rosa Parks has been approved for a local historic district designation."

Minnesota -

• Healing the Wounds of History: The Saint Paul Reparations Commission (Women's Press, July 30) - The Saint Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission "...serves as an advisory body to the Saint Paul mayor and city council. Its mission is to repair damage caused by public and private systemic racism in the city, which resulted in racial disparities in generational wealth, homeownership, health care, education, employment, and pay, as well as within the criminal justice system."
• How open enrollment is reshaping Twin Cities school districts and impacting students (MPR, June 5) - "According to their [Axios Twin Cities] analysis, the number of students participating in open enrollment has grown every year for at least a decade. Meanwhile, research also shows racial segregation is worsening in schools, and some critics of the policy argue that open enrollment is one reason why."

New Jersey -

• Atlantic City’s Ralph Hunter envisions new Black history museum in town (WHYY, June 30) - "Ralph Hunter has a dream. The 87-year-old Atlantic City resident wants to build a permanent home for the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey....African Americans moved to New Jersey in larger numbers during the 'Great Migration' of the early 1900s. Many of them relocated to the Garden State for better economic opportunities and to escape the Jim Crow laws of the South. New Jersey, particularly South Jersey, was a major route for the Underground Railroad before the Civil War."
• New Jersey appellate court will hear school segregation suit, bringing the case closer to resolution (Chalkbeat New Jersey, July 11) - "The state’s appellate court agreed this week to take on Latino Action Network v. New Jersey, a move that brings the case closer to a resolution after seven years of trudging through the court system."
• NJ’s next governor could inherit school segregation dispute (NJ Spotlight News, July 2) - "'Regrettably, the State’s apparent goal in this litigation is to continue to stall its resolution so that the issue becomes the responsibility of the next administration,' the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in a reply brief to the state. 'But its alarming denial of responsibility, in and of itself, cries out for review.'”

New York -

• Fewer Black and Latino students win offers to attend specialized high schools (Chalkbeat New York, July 31) - "Fewer Black and Latino students were offered seats at New York City’s specialized high schools for this fall, potentially deepening segregation at some of the city’s most coveted campuses."

Rhode Island -

• Blog: Opposition to the Excel Academy lease of the Carl Lauro Elementary School building continues to grow (RIFutureNews, July 23) - "Last Thursday, the Providence City Council Ordinance Committee voted to advance a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a proposed lease with Excel Academy charter school for the Carl G. Lauro School building....Opposition to the deal is partly based on the financial impact of charterization on public schools....Leading civil rights groups—NAACP National, the Movement for Black Lives, and the NEA Black Caucus—warn that unchecked charter growth creates separate and unequal schools without improving academic outcomes."

Tennessee -

• Opinion: The right’s war against the truth of our history (Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 19) - "In 2025, we continue to wage war over who and who isn't deemed worthy to share in this country's wealth, not via firearms and military skirmishes, but over the collective understanding of our history — a war between lies and the truth....For one, this statue [of A.P. Stewart], among hundreds of others in the South, was not erected as a means to preserve history. It was a violent display of power made during the Jim Crow Era, decades after the final trigger was pulled during the Civil War. Considering that the organization behind the installation of the Stewart bust was the Daughters of the Confederacy — one of the greatest purveyors of the 'Lost Cause Myth,' the false narrative that the South's motive in the Civil War was not over slavery — makes this obvious."

Virginia -

• After the storm of war, a new battle against Jim Crow and segregation (Loudoun Times, July 11)(a Senior Capstone Project by Hannah Skemp from Stone Bridge High School) - "Loudoun County ended segregation in its public schools in 1968, more than a decade after the landmark 1954 [Brown decision] — a delay that reflects the county’s complex history with slavery and segregation; a history that continues to influence the county even now. Despite a federal mandate to desegregate public schools, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors worked to circumvent the order, continuously delaying desegregation from 1954 to 1968. Obstacles like this were not new to Black residents as they had to constantly fight for justice and equality."
• Lucy Addison High School Named Virginia Historic Landmark (The Roanoke Star, June 24) - "The original Lucy Addison High School, built in 1928 as a segregated high school for Black Roanokers, is one of nine historic places recently listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) following approval by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Board of Historic Resources on June 12, 2025."

CROSS-MOVEMENT RESOURCES

SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES

AUG 5

Virtual

Dreaming on the Clock: Imagination as a Leadership Competency

NYU Metro Center

"How do we generate new possibilities when familiar approaches fall short of what our communities need? Rooted in the traditions of artistic practice, systems thinking, and cultural responsiveness, this webinar challenges the reactive rhythms of school leadership and invites participants to reimagine what is possible within today's educational landscape."

SEPT 19

Baltimore, MD

Picturing Mobility — Curatorial Talk and Opening Reception

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

"In conjunction with the exhibition the exhibition Picturing Mobility: Black Tourism and Leisure during the Jim Crow Era, on display from September 2 through December 19, the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery presents a curatorial talk with Elizabeth Patton, followed by an opening reception. The event runs from 5-7pm.

NOV 5

Virtual

Inaugural Online Conference

APA Public Schools + Communities Division

"The goal of the conference is to highlight the amazing work happening in school planning around the country, exchange ideas, and to gain valuable insights into current trends, challenges, and innovations in the field. Registration will open in August."