Overview

• US District Judge Landya McCafferty issued a preliminary injunction against the Department of Education’s anti-DEI guidance for schools employing National Education Association members.
• The judge ruled the policy constitutes viewpoint discrimination and likely violates First Amendment protections for free speech.
• The guidance, based on a reinterpretation of civil rights law, threatened to withhold federal funding from schools engaged in DEI practices or race-related programs.
• The lawsuit, filed by the NEA and ACLU, argued the policy was unconstitutionally vague and improperly implemented without following required procedural steps.
• Legal challenges to the guidance continue in other courts, with at least two additional cases under consideration, including one in Washington, D.C.