Trump's Education Department Canceled 104 of 109 Teacher-Training Grants Under a Policy a Judge Ruled Unlawful
Chapter 1 — Trump's Orders Became Cuts to Teacher Training
Chapter 2 — Training Ended Where Schools Needed Teachers
Chapter 3 — The Court Rejected the Policy, but Did Not Restore the Money
1 · Trump's Orders Became Cuts to Teacher Training
1.1 — Nearly Every Grant Canceled
Acting on Trump's anti-DEI orders, the Education Department canceled 104 of 109 grants in two teacher-training programs within fourteen days. California reported disrupted services for more than 500 schoolchildren. Judge Angel Kelley later struck the policy down: among other failures, it penalized objectives Congress required the grants to support.
2 · Training Ended Where Schools Needed Teachers
2.1 — Lost Placements, Lost Support
California reported that the cuts ended training and rural-school placements for 60 teacher candidates and disrupted services for more than 500 schoolchildren. Maryland reported losing parts of a coaching program for 70 school leaders and dismissing six employees. Wisconsin described special education vacancies filled by people who were not fully certified. Kelley found that the department had ignored how much teachers, schools and students depended on this funding.
3 · The Court Rejected the Policy, but Did Not Restore the Money
3.1 — Civil-Rights Enforcement Was the Defense
3.2 — Where It Stands on October 10, 2026
The department defended the cuts as enforcement of civil-rights law. Kelley found that the policy reached topics with no apparent connection to discrimination, turned Congress's requirements into reasons to cancel grants, and skipped public notice and comment. She also held that the regulation the department cited did not allow canceling grants over priorities adopted after the awards. The department reported some later grant approvals under other programs; Kelley found its February policy had not been withdrawn.
The September 17, 2026 judgment struck down the directive without ordering repayment of the canceled grants. The government won on which court could decide repayment: the Supreme Court stayed an earlier temporary order against the terminations, and Kelley ruled that individual grant claims belonged in the Court of Federal Claims. The grant programs and their governing rules remained in place.
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