Supreme Court allows Trump to freeze dozens of teacher training grants

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump to temporarily freeze millions of dollars in grants to states for addressing teacher shortages, the administration’s first win at the high court since reclaiming power in January.

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump to temporarily freeze millions of dollars in grants to states for addressing teacher shortages, the administration’s first win at the high court since reclaiming power in January. The decision was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberals dissenting. Trump attempted to cancel the grants based on allegations that the money was being used for programs that take part in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives – a favorite, if ill-defined, target for the administration. In cancelling 104 of 109 grants, the administration sent a form letter than did not provide specifics about which DEI programs, specifically, it believed the awardees were engaged in. The two grant programs, Supporting Effective Educator Development and Teacher Quality Partnership, are used to recruit and train teachers to work in traditionally underserved communities. Eight blue states that rely on the funding – including California, Illinois and New York – sued and a federal judge in Boston issued an order temporarily blocking the administration from freezing the funding while he considered the case. An appeals court declined to overturn that order and the administration appealed to the Supreme Court on its emergency docket last week. The administration focused its appeal on an argument it has been sounding for weeks to the public as well as for the justices: That a single district court judge shouldn’t be able to dictate national policy – even in the short term. Previous presidents have made similar arguments when faced with adverse rulings, though the Trump administration has been doing so in case after case rapidly filed at the Supreme Court.