Court Cases

Education news, analysis, and opinion about lawsuits and legal proceedings
Collage of Trump signing an executive order, money, desks, torn paper, legal pad.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week with Getty + Evan Vucci/AP
Education Funding Trump's Education Funding Maneuvers Were Illegal, Judges Rule
Judges ruled in suits about teacher-training grant cancellations and withheld education research money.
Mark Lieberman, September 18, 2026
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4 min read
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 17: The U.S. Department of Justice Building on August 17, 2026 in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Department of Justice Building on Aug. 17, 2026 in Washington. The Justice Department has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Education to fight school and state policies concerning transgender students it deems objectionable.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Law & Courts Trump Admin. Turns to Student Privacy Laws in Gender Identity Fights With Schools
The feds are increasingly citing student privacy laws in gender-identity battles with school districts.
Mark Walsh, September 17, 2026
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8 min read
A collage of hate text messages that were directed toward a teacher in response to her social media post about Charlie Kirk's death. The group of text messages have foul language and people's names blurred out and appear on a dark black background.
A collage of messages show the invective directed towards a teacher in response to a social media post about Charlie Kirk's death.
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week
Teaching Profession Disciplined for Charlie Kirk Posts, These Teachers Fought Back—And Won
Several of them won settlements. But the legal line for punishing teachers over speech remains murky and contested.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 11, 2026
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14 min read
EDUCWeek TracyByrd 23
Books in a Minneapolis high school classroom are seen on Jan. 22, 2026.
Caroline Yang for Education Week
States Courts Lets a State Law Limiting Race, Gender Classroom Discussions Take Effect
The 2021 Oklahoma law was part of a wave of state laws limiting classroom race and gender discussions.
Curtis Killman, Tulsa World, Okla., September 11, 2026
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2 min read
Yair Lev stands by as a screen displaying an itinerary for a Lower Merion Board of School Directors meeting at the Lower Merion School District Administration Building on May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa.
Yair Lev stands by as a screen displaying a document for a school district board of directors meeting at the Lower Merion school district administration building on May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa. Lev is among a group of parents who have sued the Philadelphia-area school district seeking the ability to opt their children out of the required use of school technology.
Joe Lamberti/AP
Law & Courts These Parents Want to Opt Their Kids Out of Ed Tech. Can They Win in Court?
Parents in a Pennsylvania district say ed tech distracts from more meaningful learning.
Mark Walsh, September 8, 2026
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10 min read
CLOVIS, CA MAY 30, 2026: Transgender athlete AB Hernandez, center, competed in three qualifying events at the CIF State Track Championship in Clovis, CA on May 30, 2026. Hernandez placed first in qualifying for the long jump on Friday. Hernandez competes in the finals on Saturday in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez, center, competed in three qualifying events at the CIF State Track Championship in Clovis, Calif., on May 30, 2026. The Trump administration sued California over its policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' athletic teams. A judge has dismissed that lawsuit.
Tomas Ovalle / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Law & Courts Title IX Doesn't Require Transgender Athletes' Exclusion, Judge Rules
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump administration alleging California violated Title IX.
Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2026
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4 min read
Acting Deputy Executive Associate Director at Homeland Security Investigations Matthew Millhollin holds a Department of Justice folder during a news conference to announce charges being brought against Chinese nationals involved in a marriage fraud scheme at the Department of Justice on Aug. 12, 2026 in Washington, D.C. The group have been accused of running a scheme where foreign nationals paid money to American citizens for fraudulent marriages in order to receive green cards then immediately filed for divorce once permanent residency in the U.S. had been established. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Sipa USA)
An official holds a Department of Justice folder during a news conference on Aug. 12, 2026 in Washington. The DOJ sued the Kansas City, Kan., public schools over guidelines addressing how school staff address students who request to go by pronouns that differ from their sex at birth.
Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP
Law & Courts Trump Admin. Says School District Facilitates 'Gender Transitions,' Files Suit
The lawsuit comes after several months of back and forth with the Kansas City, Kan., public schools.
Sofi Zeman, The Kansas City Star, September 1, 2026
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2 min read
Attorney's representing multiple states pose for a photograph outside court after after tech giant Meta reached a settlement to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026.
Attorneys representing multiple states pose for a photograph outside a federal court in Oakland, Calif., after after tech giant Meta reached a settlement to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction on Aug. 26, 2026. The settlement terms and payments could have major effects on students and schools, according to legal and technology experts.
Noah Berger/AP
Student Well-Being & Movement Billions Will Flow to States Through Meta Settlement. Will Schools Benefit?
Schools could share in the payout. Meta's design feature changes could also help, experts say.
Arianna Prothero, August 28, 2026
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7 min read
The office of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, one of Nebraska's few abortion clinics, is seen in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022.
The office of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, one of Nebraska's few abortion clinics, is seen in Omaha, Neb., on Oct. 19, 2022. The organization is part of a coalition of affected grantees affected by the Trump administration funding for teen pregnancy programs.
Josh Funk/AP
Law & Courts Court Blocks Trump Admin.'s Abstinence Emphasis in Teen Pregnancy Program
HHS revamped the grant with new requirements that align with conservative priorities.
Lauraine Langreo, August 24, 2026
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3 min read
A worker attaches a rope as they prepare to remove the statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson from its pedestal on July 1, 2020, in Richmond, Va. Shenandoah County, Virginia's school board voted 5-1 early Friday, May 10, 2024, to rename Mountain View High School as Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary as Ashby Lee Elementary four years after the names had been removed.
A worker attaches a rope as they prepare to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson from its pedestal on July 1, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Shenandoah County school board in Virginia—which scrapped the Confederate names for two schools in 2020 and then restored them in 2024—is now under court order to rename the schools.
Steve Helber/AP Photo
Equity & Diversity District Must Rename Schools After It Restored Confederate Names, Judge Rules
The district removed the Confederate names in 2020 only to bring them back four years later.
Matthew Stone, August 7, 2026
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4 min read
A group prays outside of the Supreme Court ahead of the court's ruling on whether transgender girls and women can play on school athletic teams, on June 30, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
A group prays outside of the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of the court's ruling on whether transgender girls and women can play on school athletic teams, on June 30, 2026, in Washington. The court upheld two state laws barring transgender girls from joining girls' school sports teams.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts What Schools Need to Know About the Supreme Court’s Transgender Sports Ruling
The justices upheld two state laws that bar transgender girls from participating in female sports.
Mark Walsh, July 2, 2026
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10 min read
Graduates of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley attend their commencement ceremony at the schools parking lot on Friday, May 7, 2021, in Edinburg, Texas. Graduate degrees, once touted as the new bachelor’s degrees, are becoming less crucial to get jobs. Today, more college graduates than ever hold advanced degrees, and graduate programs are the only area of higher education that saw enrollment increases during the worst of the pandemic.
Graduates of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley attend their commencement ceremony in Edinburg, Texas, on May 7, 2021. The Trump administration has expanded its list of graduate degrees it considers "professional" for purposes of determining how much students can borrow to fund their studies.
Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Leaves Most K-12 Fields Off Expanded List of 'Professional' Degrees
Whether a degree is considered "professional" now determines how much graduate students can borrow.
Matthew Stone, July 1, 2026
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4 min read
An empty Chicago Public Schools classroom is seen on Dec. 15, 2025 .
An empty Chicago public school classroom is seen on Dec. 15, 2025. Schools in Illinois are preparing to lay off staff as fallout from federal grant cuts continues.
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via TNS
Education Funding Schools Lay Off Staff as Lawsuits Challenging Federal Grant Cuts Continue
Recent lawsuits have challenged federal grant cuts affecting special education and English-learner teachers.
Mark Lieberman, July 1, 2026
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6 min read
Graduates in the School of Education hold up books as their degrees are conferred during Harvard's 371st Commencement, on May 26, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass.
Graduates in the School of Education hold up books during Harvard's 371st Commencement on May 26, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. The Trump administration excluded education fields when it set a definition of "professional" degree to implement a new law instituting graduate student borrowing limits.
Mary Schwalm/AP
Law & Courts Judge Voids Trump Admin. Rule Excluding Education From ‘Professional’ Degrees
A judge ruled the agency didn't have the authority to adopt such a narrow definition.
Matthew Stone, June 25, 2026
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4 min read