Filed Date: Dec. 30, 2025
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
This case challenges the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to terminate continuation funding for previously awarded Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) grants based on newly asserted policy priorities.
On December 30, 2025, the States of Maryland and North Carolina, along with the District of Columbia, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Linda McMahon. Since 2008, the Department has administered FSCS grants to support the planning, implementation, and operation of community schools that provide integrated academic, health, and social services, particularly for students in high-poverty schools. Plaintiffs included recipients and beneficiaries of multi-year grants, including a $1.9 million five-year grant awarded to the University of Maryland, Baltimore; nearly $5 million in grants awarded to District of Columbia Public Schools; and a nearly $50 million grant awarded to the North Carolina Community Schools Coalition.
Plaintiffs challenged a December 12, 2025 agency action issuing “Notices of Non-Continuation” that abruptly ended these multi-year FSCS grants effective December 31, 2025—despite prior renewals and the program’s standard practice of awarding annual continuation funding based on grantee performance. The notices provided little individualized reasoning, relied on largely boilerplate justifications, and were issued less than three weeks before funding expired, leaving limited opportunity for reconsideration or judicial review.
The complaint alleged that FSCS grants, authorized and administered under Department regulations including 34 C.F.R. §§ 75.118 and 75.253, were structured as multi-year awards in which continuation decisions had to be based solely on “grantee performance,” not shifting policy priorities. Plaintiffs asserted that defendants instead relied on a 2025 internal directive and new, unpublished priorities—such as opposition to certain DEI-related concepts—to discontinue approximately $168 million in grants nationwide, without evaluating grantee performance and without notice-and-comment rulemaking as required by the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. §§ 1221e-4, 1232).
Plaintiffs brought claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, alleging the non-continuation decision was arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, and procedurally invalid under 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), as well as a constitutional claim that imposition of retroactive and unannounced funding conditions violated the Spending Clause. They emphasized that the decision disregarded reliance interests, ignored regulatory limits requiring performance-based review, and disrupted ongoing educational programs serving high-poverty schools.
Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief vacating the non-continuation decision, prohibiting its enforcement, and requiring the Department to make new continuation funding determinations consistent with governing regulations; they also requested reinstatement of funding, attorneys’ fees, and any further equitable relief deemed appropriate.
Following the filing of the complaint, defendants appeared through counsel on January 20, 2026. The parties jointly moved for a scheduling order on March 6, 2026, proposing competing briefing schedules, and the court entered a scheduling order on March 9, 2026 governing further proceedings.
On March 18, 2026, defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, challenging the claims in full.
The case remains ongoing.
Summary Authors
Jack Buckfire (4/20/2026)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72092158/parties/state-of-maryland-v-united-states-department-of-education/
Boardman, Deborah L. (Maryland)
Jamieson, Keith Michael (Maryland)
Mosteller, Daniel P. (Maryland)
Reich, Mitchell (Maryland)
Dillon, Jessica F (Maryland)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72092158/state-of-maryland-v-united-states-department-of-education/
Last updated April 20, 2026, 3:20 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: Dec. 30, 2025
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
The State of Maryland, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Federal
United States Department of Education
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Constitutional Clause(s):
Spending/Appropriations Clauses
Other Dockets:
District of Maryland 1:25-cv-04298
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Relief Sought:
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General/Misc.:
Case Summary of State of Maryland v. United States Department of Education, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/47574/ (last updated 4/20/2026).