On April 24, three different federal courts issued preliminary injunctions blocking the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) from enforcing a recertification requirement related to federal civil rights law. The requirement, which USDOE announced in early April, asked school districts to formally certify their compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, based on a substantial reinterpretation of the decades old law. The sudden rollout, legal uncertainty, and potential consequences for federal funding created confusion and concern among school administrators across the country.
With the injunction now in place and school districts having some level of certainty on how to proceed (at least for a while), it’s possible to look back over the past several months and recap how we got from a February Dear Colleague Letter to an April recertification deadline and, finally, to court intervention. Let’s start with a timeline of events followed by a recap of where the court leave things for schools.
Timeline of Key Events
- February 14, 2025 – USDOE issues a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) outlining a reinterpretation of Title VI that relies heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard (2023) (“SFFA”) and its application to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and related activities in K-12 schools. The DCL goes beyond the Supreme Court’s ruling on admissions in SFFA, stating that race-conscious policies—including those related to hiring, discipline, scholarships, and programming—may violate federal civil rights laws unless they meet a very high legal standard. The DCL gives a deadline of February 28, 2025 to com into compliance before the Department will begin enforcement efforts to assess compliance with this new interpretation.
- April 3, 2025 – USDOE sends letters to state education agencies, including the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), requesting formal certification that they—and all local districts—are in compliance with Title VI under the new framework. The initial deadline is later extended to April 24.
- April 10, 2025 – MDE responds, stating that Michigan as a whole and all of our various local districts have already certified compliance through other mechanisms and, as such, asserts that recertification is not necessary.
- April 23, 2025 – USDOE sends another message to state agencies, urging them to forward the request to districts and stating that LEAs may submit certifications directly to the federal government, causing further confusion since the initial requirement for recertification was put on states, not local districts.
- April 24, 2025 – Three separate federal courts (in Maryland, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C.) issued preliminary injunctions prohibiting USDOE from enforcing the certification requirement or penalizing districts that do not comply.
What the Court Rulings Mean for Schools
The injunctions mean that, at least for now, states and school districts are not required to submit the certification form distributed by USDOE on April 3. The New Hampshire ruling halted enforcement of both the February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter and the April 3 Title VI certification mandate, but only for districts employing MEA/NEA members, since it was the NEA that brought suit. The Maryland ruling, which applies to districts employing AFT members, issued a stay specific to the February 14 letter, but stipulating that the court interprets such a stay to also halt enforcement of the April 3 certification mandate. Finally, the Washington DC ruling, which was the narrowest of the three, applies to all districts nationwide and enjoins the enforcement of the April 3 recertification, which the U.S. Department of Education acknowledged when it issued a brief email last week stating that it would suspend enforcement of its April 3 Title VI certification letter.
Each of the three courts found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in challenging the Department’s authority to enforce the new requirement without going through a formal rulemaking process or offering schools proper due process. The rulings are preliminary but carry significant weight—they prevent USDOE from imposing consequences related to the certification until the courts issue final decisions.
For Michigan schools, this means the pressure to submit a federal compliance certification or otherwise comply with the February 14 DCL has been lifted for the time being. However, school leaders should stay tuned. These cases may continue through appeals, and federal policy guidance could shift again depending on the outcome. Until then, districts should continue to follow existing state and federal nondiscrimination laws and consult legal counsel before making changes to programs or documentation in response to federal directives.