Local education agencies say anti-DEI law disrupts IEPs
What if a state law blocks services for students with disabilities?
In April 2025, the US state of New Hampshire legislature passed a budget bill that reduced state spending by $300 million, including cuts in Medicaid, family planning, and health services. During deliberations about the bill, according to Josh Rogers of New Hampshire Public Radio, “the debate … was sharpest when Republican leaders moved to impose broad limits on diversity and equity mandates in state government, public higher education, and in every public school in New Hampshire.” Legislators eventually passed the bill with the DEI prohibition included in it.
On 27 August 2025, Ethan DeWitt of the New Hampshire Bulletin reported about a legal hearing regarding the law. He explained that Judge Landya McCafferty of the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire heard a suit brought by some New Hampshire local education agencies and other interested organizations (the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union) that say the law is unconstitutional and will, among other things, threaten differential services for students with disabilities.
According to Charlotte Matherly of the Concord Monitor, the group of four LEAs requested that the court block a requirement that they submit letters to the Department of Education stating that the LEAs are not engaging in DEI initiatives. From her report (and those of other journalists), it seems like most of the discussion in the court was about funding.
I hope to track this case and to obtain the assistance of members of the Special Education Today community who also know about it. There should be legal documents available, although I wasn’t able to find them on the PACER site as of late evening 27 August 2025.
I was encouraged by reporting that Judge McCafferty questioned the state’s attorneys (those defending the law) vigorously and seemed skeptical about their arguments. In April 2025, Judge McCafferty blocked the US Education Department effort to cut funding to schools that maintain DEI programs; although her injunction was specific to New Hampshire and focused on race as an educational topic, it made US national news (see, e.g., Jacob Rosen’s CBS News story. “Judge restricts Trump administration from cutting school funding over DEI” of 24 April 2025).
My headline for this post may be putting words in the mouths of the attorneys representing the LEAs, but I hope they make the case about disrupting special education. I hope that the attorneys for the LEAs explain that funding is an important matter, but that the rights of students with disabilities are reasonably in the mix of this case, too. Students with disabilities are, as I understand it, a protected class of citizens. The government cannot take actions to deny them access (“inclusion”) in education. Denying funding pretty surely would violate those rights. Perhaps this idea is wrapped up in the complaint about the requirements for submitting the letters. I sure would like it to be stated explicitly.
Links:
Mr. Rogers’s story appeared under the headline, “NH Republicans add DEI limits to House budget proposal, as Democrats cry foul“ on New Hampshire Public Radio 1 April 2025.
Mr. DeWitt’s report appeared under the headline, “Federal judge appears skeptical of New Hampshire anti-DEI law” in the New Hampshire Bulletin on 27 August 2025.
Ms. Matherly’s report for the Concord Monitor was dated 27 August 2025 and appeared under the headline “Judge questions state’s authority to cut funding over DEI initiatives.”