Illinois attorney general reaches agreement to protect $1.4 billion in education funding

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Friday that he helped secure an agreement with the Trump administration that will protect nearly $1.4 billion in annual federal education funding for the state.

The agreement resolves a lawsuit filed by a group of states after the U.S. Department of Education in April 2025 threatened to withhold federal funds from schools that refused to certify compliance with new restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

"The Trump administration attempted to illegally stop the allocation of congressionally mandated funds to push a vague, anti-diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility agenda at the expense of some of the most vulnerable children in Illinois and across the country," Raoul said in a press release Friday.

The dispute began when the Education Department, on April 3, required state and local education agencies to sign a document affirming compliance with the administration's interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding DEI efforts. Schools that refused faced immediate loss of federal funding.

Illinois and many other states declined to sign, arguing the department's requirements were vague and legally unsupported, Raoul said.

Raoul joined attorneys general from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York in filing a lawsuit on April 25, 2025, challenging the funding threat as unconstitutional. The states argued it violated the Spending Clause, Appropriations Clause and separation of powers.

A related lawsuit by the American Federation of Teachers successfully vacated the April 3 certification request. Friday's agreement ensures that relief applies to Illinois schools and prevents the administration from withholding funding based on the disputed conditions.

The protected funding supports programs for low-income and rural students, special education services, teacher recruitment and training, English-language learner programs, services for foster care children and students without housing and career technical education.

Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia joined the agreement, including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.