NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday led a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the United States (US) Department of Education (ED) and protect Caribbean and other students.

James noted that on March 11, the Trump administration announced that the ED would be firing about 50 per cent of its workforce as part of its goal of a “total shutdown” of the department.

On Thursday, James and the coalition filed a lawsuit seeking to “stop the targeted destruction of this critical federal agency that ensures tens of millions of students receive a quality education and critical resources”.

“This administration may claim to be stopping waste and fraud, but it is clear that their only mission is to take away the necessary services, resources and funding that students and their families need,” said James.

“Firing half of the Department of Education’s workforce will hurt students throughout New York and the nation, especially low-income students and those with disabilities who rely on federal funding,” she added. “This outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal.”

“Today, I am taking action to stop the madness and protect our schools and the students who depend on them,” continued James, stating that the ED’s programmes serve nearly 18,200 school districts and over 50 million K-12 students attending roughly 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools throughout the US.

She said federal ED funds for special education include support for assistive technology for students with disabilities, teacher salaries and benefits, transportation to help children receive the services and programming they need, physical therapy and speech therapy services, and social workers to help manage students’ educational experiences.

James said the ED also supports students in rural communities by offering programmes designed to help rural school districts that often lack the personnel and resources needed to compete for competitive grants.

James and the coalition assert in the lawsuit that dismantling the ED will have “devastating effects on states like New York”.

They said K-12 schools in New York received US$6.17 billion, or US$2,438 per student, from the ED in federal fiscal year 2024.

In addition, they said federal funding for public colleges and universities averaged US$1,256 per student in New York in federal fiscal year 2024.

“The administration’s layoff is so massive that ED will be incapacitated and unable to perform essential functions,” the lawsuit says. “The administration’s actions will deprive students with special needs of critical resources and support.”

“They will gut ED’s Office of Civil Rights, which protects students from discrimination and sexual assault,” it adds. “They would additionally hamstring the processing of financial aid, raising costs for college and university students who will have a harder time accessing loans, Pell Grants, and work-study programmes.”

The lawsuit says the Trump administration’s actions would be “particularly harmful to New York, where more students receive Pell Grants than almost any other state”.

With this lawsuit, James and the coalition are seeking a court order to stop the administration’s policies to dismantle the ED by drastically cutting its workforce and programmes.