AG Rob Bonta, leading a coalition of 19 attorneys general, filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s efforts to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation. On April 3, 2025, the Department of Education informed state and local agencies that they must accept the Trump Administration’s new and legally incoherent interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts—or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education funds. California, like many other states, refused to certify its compliance with these new requirements, explaining that there is no lawful or practical way to do so given the Department’s vague, contradictory, and unsupported interpretation of Title VI. In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition seek to bar the Department from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.