Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says the Federal government is overeaching and that Colorado will fight to protect the interests of it’s children. Credit- Colorado Sun

Colorado’s attorney general has joined 20 other states in suing the president’s administration to stop what they call the “illegal dismantling” of the U.S. Department of Education.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and 20 other attorneys general across the country are suing the Trump administration in hopes of blocking what they call “the illegal dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education”.

The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, comes days after federal officials terminated nearly half of the education department’s staff as a step toward closing the department altogether. The plaintiffs are pursuing a court order to stop the Trump administration from axing the Education Department by significantly scaling down its staff and programs.

Shutting down the department “would in effect undermine decades of federal work to provide support for education that directly affects Coloradans, whether you’re a teacher, whether you’re someone who’s an employer, whether you’re a parent,” Weiser was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office. “Decimating the Department of Education is going to be harmful and we’re going to fight it.”

Colorado received more than $1.2 billion from the federal government to support education programs during the 2024 fiscal year, according to the news release. Nationwide, the department’s programs assist nearly 18,200 school districts and more than 50 million kids enrolled in about 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools. Its higher education programs give resources and support to more than 12 million students each year.

The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s move toward eliminating the department is unconstitutional because that action is outside the purview of the executive branch. Only Congress has the constitutional power to shutter the department or put an end to services it has directed the federal government to fund.

While Democrat leaders oppose the Trump Administration’s latest move, Republicans such as former GOP chair and Colorado Board of Education member Kristi Burton Brown support it.

According to Burton Brown, dismantling bureaucracy means you return more power to the state level and the local levels. So that means there are fewer hands that dollars pass through on the way into classrooms and for teachers in Colorado. It also means that there’s less regulations, sometimes that states and local governments have to comply with, and regulations often get in the way of our students performing well in school. So, whenever bureaucracy can be dismantled, it gets money straight down to the states and local districts, which ensures there’s more money showing up in the classrooms where kids really need it.

Burton Brown believes these cuts aimed to move education from federal to state control will result in more funding toward classrooms.

Different sides of the aisle disagree whether this will ultimately harm or help students, but still, the attorneys general on this lawsuit claim only Congress has the legal authority to abolish the department. And, it’s unlikely Republicans would have the votes to pass this type of legislation.

The federal department is a key part of connecting students with services they need and are legally entitled to — including providing schools funding for special education students and ensuring college students can access federal student loans, including Pell Grants which help students from low-income backgrounds cover tuition, room and board and other higher education expenses. The federal department, overseen by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, also houses the Office for Civil Rights, which protects equal access to education for all students, maintains protections against sexual harassment and assault and upholds protections for LGBTQ+ students.

The department also collects data about students’ academic performance across states, among a long list of other responsibilities.

A lot of observers in Colorado believe the mass dismissal of education employees is alarming, constituting indiscriminate actions that will leave key services unavailable. While it is difficult to predict the full impact of these cuts, the priorities in Colorado seem to remain unchanged; which is ensuring that every child starts strong, stays engaged, and graduates ready for success in college, careers, and life. Many critical student services depend on federally committed resources, and officials remain hopeful that these reductions will not disrupt Colorado’s ability to meet the needs of its students.

Other states that are part of the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.