California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to cut off millions of dollars in federal grants that support the training of special education staff.
(CN) – California Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking a federal court to rule that the Trump administration’s cancellation of grant money for special education staff is illegal.
of multistate lawsuitfiled Tuesday, challenges the U.S. Department of Education’s termination of grants awarded to three states under the State Personnel Development Grant, or SPDG, program. The grants are intended to help fund the professional development of special education staff and support services for children with disabilities.
“It is shameful that President Trump has ignored the needs of students with disabilities, claiming that supporting their needs is not in the best interest of the federal government,” Bonta said. said in a press release in relation to the lawsuit. “The Trump administration cut critical grants designed to improve outcomes for students with disabilities by building the capacity of educators, administrators and systems to provide timely, appropriate services and navigate early intervention.”
The federal government gave California the five-year grant in 2022, and gave it to Rhode Island in 2021 and Wisconsin in 2024.
However, the government cut funding in 2025 for what say the plaintiffs were politically motivated reasons related to the Trump administration’s hostility to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
Bonta asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to find the cancellation of the grants in violation of federal law.
“This harmful and illegal action denies vulnerable students the resources they need to learn and succeed,” Bonta said. “California is struggling to secure the continuation of the grant that supports these needed special education initiatives.”
The California Department of Education was slated to receive $2.1 million annually, or $10.5 million over five years. After the initial award is made, the US Department of Education can determine whether to continue awarding the grant money the following year, based on performance and financial metrics.
The Department of Education administered the grant program for decades in a predictable manner by inviting applications and identifying priorities subject to notice and comment, the California Department of Justice said in a statement. California met all program goals and performance requirements and was funded for three years, the release said.
“But in 2025, the department suddenly departed from this established practice, unlawfully terminating SPDG grants in plaintiff states for political reasons,” the plaintiffs say. in their lawsuit. “It did so despite the fact that state programs had for years met published SPDG priorities. For example, consistent with published SPDG priorities, plaintiff California’s state program implemented critical reforms to develop California’s workforce in early intervention, early education, and transition services to ensure that children with disabilities receive the supports they need to thrive in the short and long term.”
of The Trump administration called for the review and termination of federal grants in January 2025, the plaintiffs say. The plaintiff states received what they describe as boilerplate notices in September 2025 that the administration was ending grant funding.
“The announcements also made clear that the current administration’s ‘priorities and policy preferences’ include a reflexive hostility to any reference, however brief, to diversity, equity or inclusion,” the plaintiffs say.
The plaintiffs say the cancellations were illegal because the department relied on unpublished policy priorities, improperly changed the rules and failed to adequately explain its decisions, among other things.
The plaintiffs’ requests for reconsideration were then ultimately denied, they say.
of State Grants Program for Personnel Development was established in 2004 through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in an effort to improve educational outcomes for children with disabilities.
There are more than 880,000 students in California who are eligible for special education services, according to a press release from the California Department of Justice.
or federal judge in Oregon previously ruled against the Trump administration for canceling research grant money, finding that three environmental groups were likely to be targeted for references to DEI on their websites. of The Ninth Circuit upheld that decisionfor research grants, but reversed a judge’s ruling that blocked the cancellation of other grants.
The California Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education also did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the lawsuit.
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