A pair of federal lawsuits were filed Monday challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to end millions of dollars in previously allocated funding for 32 Illinois community schools, including Avant and Officer elementary schools in East St. Louis.
Chicago-based nonprofit ACT Now, which distributes these federal funds to the two East St. Louis schools and others across the state, filed its suit against the department and Secretary Linda McMahon in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. ACT Now filed the lawsuit after the department denied its request for reconsideration earlier in the day, according to a news release.
The American Federation of Teachers and Chicago’s Brighton Park Neighborhood Council also filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit names the department, McMahon, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and its acting assistant secretary, Ruth Ryder, as defendants.
ACT Now’s lawsuit alleges constitutional violations, including breaches of the spending clause, separation of powers, and due process protections under the Fifth Amendment. The complaint also claims a First Amendment violation, arguing the Department of Education based its decision to cut funding on “expressive statements” about values such as equity and racial justice, rather than on program conduct.
The funding in question comes from the Full-Service Community Schools Program grants. The department announced earlier this month that it would cancel the grants, beginning Dec. 31, saying the program “does not align with the Administration’s priorities.”
The grants are intended to help advance the community schools model, partnering with local organizations to provide programs and resources for students and families. In East St. Louis, that has meant access to food staples, clean clothes, additional academic intervention during school, after-school programs and more.
Avant and Officer relied on their federal community school grants to offer those resources. With the department’s cancellation, the schools are unable to access the majority of their $5 million, five-year grant that began in 2024, leaving the district uncertain how long these programs can continue.
“Our community schools are not an extra, they really are becoming a beating heart of those communities,” East St. Louis School District 189 spokesperson Sydney Stigge-Kaufman said. “It’s helped us build a trusting relationship with families and help meet them where they are.”
At the heart of the lawsuits is the assertion that the Department of Education unlawfully cut funding already approved by the U.S. Congress. The suits seek to overturn the department’s decision to terminate the grants.
ACT Now asks the court to require the department to allow applicants an opportunity to have their funds reinstated. The American Federation of Teachers’ lawsuit seeks to extend the Dec. 31 deadline to obligate the funds, if necessary.
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a previous statement, the department’s assistant secretary for communications, Madi Biedermann, said many of the projects funded by the canceled grants nationwide focus on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and “use overt race preferences or perpetuate divisive concepts and stereotypes.”
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
