Court Cases

Education news, analysis, and opinion about lawsuits and legal proceedings
Social worker Mary Schmauss, right, greets students as they arrive for school on Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M.
A social worker greets students as they arrive for school on Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. A judge on Oct. 27 said the Trump administration couldn't cancel about four dozen mental health grants that funded school district hiring of school social workers, counselors, and psychologists to boost school mental health services.
Roberto E. Rosales/AP
Law & Courts Ed. Dept. Can't Cancel Dozens of School Mental Health Grants, Judge Rules
The grants, valued at $1 billion, help schools employ more mental health professionals.
Matthew Stone, October 28, 2025
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5 min read
Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog and Botley the Coding Robot (bottom right), two educational toys created by Learning Resources Inc.
Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog and Botley the Coding Robot (bottom right), two educational toys created by Learning Resources Inc. The Illinois company is one of two related educational toy makers challenging President Donald Trump’s tariffs before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Courtesy of Learning Resources
Law & Courts Educational Toy Companies Lead Supreme Court Battle Over Trump Tariffs
Two Illinois family-owned educational toy companies are challenging the president’s tariff policies.
Mark Walsh, October 28, 2025
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8 min read
A Let's Go Brandon flag and an American flag fly during the NASCAR Cup Series M&M'S Fan Appreciation 400 on July 24, 2022, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
A Let's Go Brandon flag and an American flag fly during the NASCAR Cup Series on July 24, 2022, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The slogan originated at a 2021 NASCAR race in Talladega, Ala., and quickly became a coded way of criticizing then-President Joe Biden. An appeals court in a free speech case said school administrators were within bounds insisting a student not wear a shirt with the slogan because of its implied vulgarity.
Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via AP Images
Law & Courts Appeals Court Backs School Administrators Who Banned 'Let's Go Brandon!' Shirts
A coded message of political criticism was vulgar and can be barred in schools.
Mark Walsh, October 16, 2025
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5 min read
Illustration of 2 hands cutting paper dolls with scissors, representing staffing layoffs.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Judge Halts Trump Admin.'s Layoffs at Ed. Dept. and Other Agencies
More than 400 workers at the diminished agency had been told their last day would be Dec. 9.
Brooke Schultz, October 15, 2025
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5 min read
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge on June 14, 2024, in Houston.
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media outside a federal courthouse on June 14, 2024, in Houston. The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to hear his appeal of a $1.4 billion judgment over his allegations that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., was staged.
David J. Phillip/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Again Declines a Case on School Gender Identity Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a case on purported school gender-identity policies, as well as two other education-related appeals
Mark Walsh, October 14, 2025
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5 min read
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington.
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington. The agency on Tuesday told more than 250 office for civil rights employees they've been laid off, just days after starting another round of layoffs during the federal government shutdown.
Aaron M. Sprecher via AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Tells More Than 250 Civil Rights Staff They've Been Laid Off
The layoffs come just days after the agency began a new round of staff reductions during the shutdown.
Brooke Schultz, October 14, 2025
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4 min read
Jackson County High School in Kentucky posts the Ten Commandments in the front hall of the school, shown here in 2000, and in every classroom, on June 25, 2025. A group of North Texas reverends filed a federal lawsuit this week to challenge a new state law that would require posting the Ten Commandments in each public school classroom.
The Ten Commandments were seen on display at Jackson County High School in Kentucky in 2000. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, will review a Louisiana law that requires the display of the commandments in public school classrooms.
<a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?artistexact=Lexington%20Herald-Leader">Lexington Herald-Leader</a>/Getty Images
Law & Courts Louisiana's Ten Commandments Law Gets Full Federal Appeals Court Review
The full 5th Circuit threw out a panel decision that blocked a Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays in schools.
Mark Walsh, October 7, 2025
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2 min read
Screenshot of a portion of a response email blaming Democrat Senators for the government shutdown.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Law & Courts Ed. Dept. Workers' Union Sues Over Emails Blaming Democrats for Shutdown
The lawsuit challenges an automatic email from furloughed staff that blames U.S. Senate Democrats for the government shutdown.
Brooke Schultz, October 6, 2025
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3 min read
AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
AB Hernandez, a transgender female student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track and field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31. The U.S. Supreme Court in its new term will consider state laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from competing in female athletics.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Law & Courts New Supreme Court Term Puts Transgender Student Rights in the Spotlight
The justices will weigh state laws that bar transgender girls from female athletics, amid other issues of interest to educators in new term
Mark Walsh, October 2, 2025
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8 min read
A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 12, 2025. A federal court sided with the Trump administration this week, allowing it to proceeds with laying off half of the department's office for civil rights.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Says Ed. Dept. Can Fire Civil Rights Staff
Office for civil rights employees had already begun returning to work under a court order
Brooke Schultz, September 30, 2025
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4 min read
Demonstrators are seen outside the Supreme Court as oral arguments were heard in Mahmoud v. Taylor on April 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The case contends that forcing students to participate in LGBTQ+ learning material violates First Amendment rights to exercise religious beliefs.
Demonstrators are seen outside the Supreme Court as oral arguments were heard in Mahmoud v. Taylor on April 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The high court later ruled that parents have a constitutional right to excuse their children from LGBTQ-themed lessons based on religious objections.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Law & Courts LGBTQ+ Rights, Ed. Dept. Cuts, Ten Commandments: A Summer Legal Roundup
Courts weighed in this summer on LGBTQ+ rights, school speech, and religion in classrooms.
Mark Walsh, September 22, 2025
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11 min read
Left: Republican Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, chair of the West Virginia Senate Health and Human Resources Committee, holds a map of the U.S. on the Senate floor depicting the states, including West Virginia, that do not allow religious or philosophical exemptions for required school vaccinations on Feb. 21, 2025 in Charleston, West Virginia. Right: West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks during a news conference at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington on April 22, 2025.
Left: A U.S. map of states without religious or philosophical vaccine exemptions. Right: Republican West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks at a news conference in Washington on April 22, 2025. West Virginia is at the center of the ongoing debate over school vaccine mandates after Morrisey this year issued an executive order requiring religious exemptions.
Left: Will Price/West Virginia Legislature; Right: Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts With Childhood Vaccination Rates Falling, Debate on Religious Exemptions Grows
There is growing pressure from parents and the Trump administration for exemptions to be expanded. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide.
Mark Walsh, September 17, 2025
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10 min read
A teacher helps two engineering students build a butterfly house.
The Trump administration has sued the Rhode Island Department of Education and the public school district in Providence, saying a program that provides loan forgiveness to teachers of color discriminates against white teachers.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Equity & Diversity Loan Forgiveness for Teachers of Color Is Discriminatory, Trump Admin. Says
The U.S. Department of Justice says the program meant to boost the ranks of minority teachers discriminates against white educators.
Alyson Klein, September 16, 2025
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3 min read
Rear view of mixed race teen schoolgirl using a laptop while having online video lesson with teacher, sitting at home.
iStock/Getty
Student Achievement High-Dosage Tutoring for 100K Kids: How a District Settled a Learning Loss Case
The nation's second-largest district agreed to tutoring and other measures to settle a case brought by parents during the pandemic.
Evie Blad, September 12, 2025
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4 min read
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