Concerns from New Hampshire educators are at the center of one of the first legal challenges to the Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools.
The groups behind the case — the ACLU, ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts and the local and national chapters of the National Education Association — argue the federal restrictions violate the free speech rights of teachers and students.
“And it further oversteps the federal government’s role by reaching into curriculum, chilling the free speech and scholarship of academics and educators, and likewise impinging on the ability of students to hear perspectives the federal government finds objectionable,” their complaint reads.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire, argues the U.S. Department of Education’s new prohibition on “DEI programs” is too sweeping and vague to be interpreted. That ban forbids programs that “teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not” and/or “stigmatize students who belong to racial groups.”
The lawsuit echoes an earlier one filed by teachers union and ACLU challenging a New Hampshire law limiting teaching on racism and discrimination. A federal judge struck down the law last year, saying it was unconstitutionally vague. The state is appealing.
The ACLU of New Hampshire is working on both cases. Its legal director, Gilles Bissonnette, said the state law and President Trump’s order have the same intention.
“Which is to create fear among educators, so they retreat and pull back from vital education, from vital instruction and discussion that are critical for students, especially those students who, like all students, are entitled to that sense of belonging,” Bissonnette said in an interview Wednesday. “(Education) that we want our students to feel in schools, to make sure that they feel heard and recognized.”
Under the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Education has said schools that fail to stop diversity, equity and inclusion programs could lose federal funding. It has created a new website that allows people to file anonymous allegations of discrimination against school districts and teachers.
The lawsuit does not name any of the New Hampshire educators affected by the new ban but identifies them as a high school English teacher, an eighth-grade social studies teacher and a middle school counselor, all of them union members.
Bissonnette said their experiences in New Hampshire are critical to the case.
“These are educators who know about chill because we've lived it in New Hampshire for almost three years,” he said. “They're experienced with these types of intrusions on their ability to do their work, to do their job.”
The lawsuit repeatedly references a February letter from the U.S. Department of Education ordering schools to comply with the new ban, alleging that it could stifle free speech in schools.
The lawsuit argues that the New Hampshire English teacher is concerned that he could face “investigation, discipline, or adverse employment action” based on the broad language of the Trump administration’s ban, “because of the ways issues related to diversity, systemic racism, and moral burdens come up in his classroom.” Similarly, the local social studies teacher said they were concerned that lessons on American history could run afoul of the federal government’s prohibitions on discussing “systemic and structural racism” or “discriminatory policies and practices.”
After New Hampshire passed its own law in 2021 limiting certain kinds of teaching about racism and sexism, it also created a system for reports of teachers allegedly violating the law.
The New Hampshire Department of Education told school leaders in early February to “evaluate” their diversity and equity programs to ensure they comply with the Trump administration’s new order.
The advisory did not provide school districts guidance on how to determine whether their programs comply or how the mandates.
The agency’s spokesperson, Kimberly Houghton, said Wednesday the department has not issued additional guidance.
