Lawsuit Challenges Trump Admin’s Dismantling of Institute of Education Sciences

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) — represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group — filed a lawsuit against Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the U.S. Department of Education for unlawfully acting to dismantle the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

IES was established under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to produce and disseminate high-quality education research, statistics, and analyses that provide parents, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and the general public valuable information about education in America. Through this work, IES has served as the backbone of education research in the United States for decades.

Nonetheless, as part of what Secretary McMahon has described as the Department of Education’s “final mission,” the Department recently initiated a reduction in force of 90% of IES staff and canceled dozens of contracts that support congressionally mandated research and allow IES to operate. These actions have left IES unable to perform its statutory functions. As the complaint filed today explains, these actions were outside the Department’s statutory authority, arbitrary and capricious, contrary to the numerous statutes that require IES to do its work, and violate laws regarding the spending of congressional appropriations.

“Congress has recognized that good national research is necessary to achieve positive educational outcomes, and created IES to make sure that research happens and is shared.” said Adam Pulver, an attorney with Public Citizen and lead counsel on this case. “Secretary McMahon has no authority to override Congress.”

“Many of our members have faced serious challenges to their research and work due to funding and staffing terminations at IES,” said Michal Kurlaender, President of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP). “We want to do all that we can to protect essential data and research infrastructure. This is fundamental to our mission of promoting research and partnerships that can inform education policy and improve education outcomes.”

“At IHEP, we rely on data from the Institute of Education Sciences to develop evidence-based insights about how all students access, afford, and make progress toward a college degree or credential, and their eventual workforce outcomes,” said Mamie Voight, president & CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), a nonprofit research, policy, and advocacy organization focused on higher education. “High-quality federal data and research help institutions, states, researchers, and student success practitioners better understand students’ experiences and develop strategies to improve their outcomes. IES is uniquely situated, and statutorily required, to collect and disseminate these data to the field. As champions for postsecondary data, we feel a responsibility to act in the public interest to protect and preserve the information the field relies upon to better serve our nation’s students.”

The lawsuit asks the court to order Secretary McMahon and the Department of Education to immediately end their efforts to eliminate IES and restore the contracts, staff, and other resources that enable IES to execute its mission.