Attorney General Phil Weiser sues Trump administration over unlawful conditions for K-12 funding

April 27, 2025 (DENVER) –Attorney General Phil Weiser today, as part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general, filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation (PDF).

On April 3, 2025, the Department of Education informed state and local agencies that they must accept the Trump administration’s new and questionable interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate loss of federal education funds. Colorado, like many other states, refused to certify its compliance with these new requirements, explaining that there is no lawful or practical way to do so given the department’s vague, contradictory, and unsupported interpretation of Title VI.

In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Weiser and the coalition seek to bar the department from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.

“In Colorado, we are committed to ensuring meaningful equal opportunity for all students and are standing firm against the Trump administration’s intimidation campaign that is not based in law,” said Attorney General Weiser. “By bringing this lawsuit, we are defending this important principle—and a range of valuable diversity and inclusion programs—and protecting important education funding.”

The Education Department provides Colorado with approximately $870 million in congressionally mandated financial support each year for a wide variety of needs and services related to children and education. This funding includes financial support to ensure that students from low-income families have the same access to high-quality education as their peers, provide special education services, recruit and train highly skilled and dedicated teachers, fund programming for non-native speakers to learn English, and provide support to vulnerable children in foster care and without housing.

As a condition of receiving these funds, state and local education agencies provide written assurances they will comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and Colorado has consistently and regularly certified its compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations. Colorado continues to stand by its prior certifications of compliance with Title VI.

In the lawsuit, the multistate coalition asserts that the Education Department’s attempt to terminate federal education funding based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers, and the Administrative Procedures Act. Previously, Attorney General Weiser issued guidance on diversity and inclusion programs and announced his commitment to defending them in the face of a lawless intimidation tactics launched by the Trump administration.

Attorney General Weiser joins the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the lawsuit.

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Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office | (720) 245-4689 cell
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov