Appeals court blocks Trump admin shutdown of school grants tied to race, gender activism

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that blocks the Trump administration from canceling mental health grants that the Department of Education (ED) said “promote divisive ideologies based on race and sex.”

The administration said the grants would be continued until the end of the year as intended but would not be renewed the following year, however, a Biden-appointed judge in October prohibited the department from ending the grants. Now, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the administration failed to prove it had a strong likelihood to succeed and that the final decision will soon be reached by the district court, according to The Hill.

This is despite the fact that the administration is already rolling out a new version of the grants that prohibits “gender ideology, political activism, racial stereotyping, or hostile environments for students of particular races.”

The grants are meant to staff schools with more mental health specialists.

ED did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Sixteen Democrat-led states sued the administration over the cancellations in June, claiming it prevented schools from offering services “critical to their students’ well-being, safety, and academic success.” The states also allege the cancellation violates ED’s General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) which requires applicants for federal grants “address equity concerns.”

The first Trump administration began issuing grants to fund mental health services at schools following the 2018 Parkland shooting, but the program was hijacked by the Biden administration in 2022 to prioritize “programs that are inclusive and that prepare school-based mental health services providers to create culturally and linguistically inclusive and identity-safe environments” and “partner with historically black colleges and universities; tribal colleges and universities; and minority-serving institutions.”

While the GEPA makes mention of addressing “barriers based on gender, race, color, national origin, disability, and age,” the Biden administration expanded the definition of equity to include things like gender identity.

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