Hawaii part of lawsuit to stop dismantling of US education department

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez and 20 of her counterparts from other states are suing the Trump administration, challenging the recent mass firing of nearly 50-percent of all employees in the U.S. Department of Education.

The lawsuit alleges the administration is gutting the agency as a way to implement an unlawful plan to dismantle the department, and seeks a court order to stop it.

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“Neither a president nor his administration can abolish or render useless a department of the United States on a whim. Students in Hawaii, from K-12 to the University of Hawaii, rely upon the U.S. Department of Education, its programs and its public servants because they are supported by federal laws passed by Congress,” said Lopez.

In addition to Hawaii, the lawsuit is led by attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, and New York, and includes attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

View the full complaint here.

Department officials said it would continue to deliver on its key functions such as the distribution of federal aid to schools, student loan management and oversight of Pell Grants.

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