Court Cases

Education news, analysis, and opinion about lawsuits and legal proceedings
A student adds a note to others expressing support and sharing coping strategies, as members of the Miami Arts Studio mental health club raise awareness on World Mental Health Day, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, at Miami Arts Studio, a public 6th-12th grade magnet school, in Miami.
A student adds a note expressing support and sharing coping strategies during a World Mental Health Day activity on Oct. 10, 2023, at Miami Arts Studio, a magnet school in Miami. Most recipients of two federal school mental health services grants the Trump administration has attempted to cancel over the past year will see their funding continue at least through June 1.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Education Funding School Mental Health Projects Get 3-Month Reprieve as Court Rules Against Trump
The projects to expand school-based services have faced nearly a year of funding uncertainty and legal limbo.
Matthew Stone, March 9, 2026
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5 min read
The Supreme Court is photographed, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Washington.
The Supreme Court is photographed, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Washington. The high court recently ruled that California policies that sometimes limit or discourage schools from disclosing information to parents about children’s gender transitions and expressions at school likely violate parents’ constitutional rights
Rahmat Gul/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court’s Gender Identity Ruling Leaves Schools Seeking Clarity
Advocates say they would welcome more from the Supreme Court on gender-notification policies.
Mark Walsh, March 6, 2026
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7 min read
Image of money symbol, books, gavel, and scale of justice.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Some Halted Federal Funds for Community Schools Will Flow, But More Remain Frozen
Schools in Illinois will regain access to some federal grant funds, but programs nationwide continue to struggle.
Mark Lieberman, March 5, 2026
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5 min read
US NEWS TEXAS SCHOOL VOUCHERS DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT DA
Kelly Hancock, Texas' acting state comptroller, speaks alongside Gov. Greg Abbott in Richland Hills, Texas, on May 17, 2022, when Hancock was a state senator. Hancock has excluded Islamic schools from Texas' new, $1 billion private school choice program, which he now oversees, according to a new lawsuit.
Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via TNS
School Choice & Charters The Nation's Largest School Choice Program Excludes Muslim Schools, Lawsuit Says
The largest state to allow public funds for private schooling faces its first legal challenge.
Jennifer Vilcarino, March 3, 2026
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4 min read
Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender in November 2025. A policy on the issue in the city’s elementary school district is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit in which a judge just sided against the district.
Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender at a meeting in November 2025. Two parents and two teachers from the district sued in 2023, challenging California state guidance concerning student gender transitions and parental notification. The U.S. Supreme Court has now reinstated a lower-court decision overturning those state policies.
Charlie Neuman for The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS
Law & Courts Supreme Court Backs Parents in School Gender Disclosure Fight
The Supreme Court restored an injunction blocking California policies on student gender transitions
Mark Walsh, March 2, 2026
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8 min read
Activists are approached by federal agents for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis.
Activists are approached by federal agents for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. Federal immigraiton enforcement disrupted learning in the Twin Cities in recent months. A new national poll of K-12 parents found most oppose immigration enforcement at or near schools.
Ryan Murphy/AP
Families & the Community How K-12 Parents Feel About Immigration Enforcement Near Schools
The latest national poll found most parnets opposing ICE enforcement at or near schools.
Ileana Najarro, February 25, 2026
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4 min read
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, left, attends a news conference with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, right, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Gov. Lee presented the Education Freedom Scholarship Act of 2024, his administration's legislative proposal to establish statewide universal school choice.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, left, attends a news conference with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 28, 2023. Both Republican governors have championed new programs that let families in their states use public funds for private education. The programs in both states are facing legal challenges.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters The Legal Fight Over Private School Choice: Who Is Suing and Why?
Court battles are underway—or recently wrapped up—for programs in at least nine states.
Mark Lieberman, February 24, 2026
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1 min read
Students work under Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights posters on display in a classroom at Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.
Students work under Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights posters on display in a classroom at Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas, Oct. 16, 2025. A federal appeals court has lifted a lower-court injunction blocking a Louisiana law that requires Ten Commandments displays, clearing the way for the law to take effect.
Eric Gay/AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Allows Louisiana Ten Commandments Displays to Proceed
The court said it was premature to rule on the constitutionality of La. Ten Commandments displays.
Mark Walsh, February 23, 2026
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3 min read
Members of the Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. Bottom row, from left, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Members of the U.S. Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. On Feb. 20, 2026, the court ruled 6-3 to strike down President Donald Trump's broad tariff policies, ruling that they were not authorized by the federal statute that he cited for them.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Strikes Trump Tariffs in Case Brought by Educational Toy Companies
Two educational toy companies were among the leading challengers to the president's tariff policies
Mark Walsh, February 20, 2026
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3 min read
California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters as Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, left, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, right, listen outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Nov. 5, 2025, with Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield behind him. Bonta this week sued the U.S. Department of Education, asking a court to block the agency's finding that the state is violating FERPA by <ins data-user-label="Matt Stone" data-time="02/13/2026 4:22:45 PM" data-user-id="00000185-c5a3-d6ff-a38d-d7a32f6d0001" data-target-id="">not requiring schools to disclose</ins> students’ gender transitions <ins data-user-label="Matt Stone" data-time="02/13/2026 4:22:45 PM" data-user-id="00000185-c5a3-d6ff-a38d-d7a32f6d0001" data-target-id="">to</ins> parents.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts California Sues Ed. Dept. in Clash Over Gender Disclosures to Parents
California challenges U.S. Department of Education findings on state policies over gender disclosure.
Mark Walsh, February 13, 2026
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4 min read
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. Religious charter advocates are betting a full Supreme Court will side with their efforts to establish religious charter schools.
Rahmat Gul/AP
Law & Courts Religious Charter Schools Push New Cases Toward Supreme Court
Advocates seeking to establish publicly funded religious schools in three states.
Mark Walsh, February 6, 2026
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9 min read
A sign reading "Protect Neighbors" is posted near a bus stop as a school bus passes on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Minneapolis.
A sign reading "Protect Neighbors" is posted near a bus stop in Minneapolis on Jan. 30, 2026. A lawsuit from two Minnesota school districts and the state's teachers' union says immigration agents have detained people and staged enforcement actions at or near schools, school bus stops, and daycare centers.
Kerem Yücel /Minnesota Public Radio via AP
Law & Courts Educators Sue Over ICE Activity on School Grounds and Nearby
The challenge targets the Trump administration's revocation of a policy that limited immigration enforcement at schools.
Alyson Klein, February 4, 2026
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5 min read
Commuters walk past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
The U.S. Department of Education spent up to $38 million last year to pay civil rights staffers who remained on administrative leave while the agency tried to lay them off.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Paid Civil Rights Staffers Up to $38 Million as It Tried to Lay Them Off
A report from Congress' watchdog looks into the Trump Admin.'s efforts to downsize the Education Department.
Alyson Klein, February 3, 2026
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5 min read
20260203 AMX US NEWS COULD TEXAS SCHOOL VOUCHER PROGRAM 1 DA
Enrollment in private school choice programs has grown quickly around the country in recent years. Applications open this month for Texas' newly created private school choice program, the largest such program in the country. Private "microschools"—such as the Humanist Academy in Irving, Texas, shown on Jan. 8, 2026—could benefit.
Juan Figueroa/ The Dallas Morning News via Tribune Content Agency
School Choice & Charters Where Private School Choice Enrollment—and Spending—Is Surging
States have devoted billions of dollars recently in public funds families can use on private schooling.
Mark Lieberman, February 3, 2026
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13 min read
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