States Are Targeting Trump’s Education Department Cuts in a New Lawsuit

The president said he is still considering how to dismantle the department.

Flags decorate a space outside the office of the education secretary at the Education Department.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

As President Donald Trump deliberates how to abolish the education department, his administration’s cuts to the agency’s programs are already facing a legal challenge.

A coalition of attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration for terminating funds that went toward training new teachers.

Among those impacted, two colleges — Montclair State University and The College of New Jersey — were notified that they would lose $600 million in funding as a result of Department of Government Efficiency cuts, according to the New Jersey attorney general’s office. Those schools used the funds to recruit and train teachers to work in the state.