(CN) - California Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking a federal court to find the Trump administration's cancellation of grant money awarded to special education staff unlawful. 

The multistate lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, challenges the U.S. Department of Education's discontinuation of grants awarded to three states under the State Personnel Development Grant program, or SPDG. The grants are meant to help fund the professional development of special education staff and support services for children with disabilities.

"It is disgraceful that President Trump has disregarded the needs of students with disabilities, claiming that supporting their needs is not in the best interest of the federal government," Bonta said in a press release about the lawsuit. "The Trump administration discontinued critical grants designed to improve outcomes for students with disabilities by building the capacity of educators, administrators and systems to ensure timely appropriate services and navigate early intervention."

The federal government awarded California the five-year grant in 2022, and awarded it to Rhode Island in 2021 and Wisconsin in 2024.

However, the government cut the funds in 2025 for what the plaintiffs say were politically motivated reasons related to the Trump administration's hostility to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.

Bonta urged the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to find the cancellation of the grants in violation of federal law.

"This harmful and unlawful action denies vulnerable students the resources they need to learn and succeed," Bonta said. "California is fighting to ensure the continuation of the grant that supports these necessary initiatives for special education."

The California Department of Education was slated to receive $2.1 million per year, or $10.5 million over the course of five years. After providing the initial award, the U.S. Department of Education can determine if it will continue to provide the grant money the following year, based on performance and financial metrics.

The Department of Education administered the grant program for decades in a predictable manner by inviting applications and identifying priorities subject to notice and comment, the California Department of Justice release said. California met all of the program goals and performance requirements and was funded for three years, the release said. 

"But in 2025, the department abruptly departed from this settled practice, unlawfully discontinuing the SPDG grants in plaintiff states for political reasons," the plaintiffs say in their lawsuit. "It did so notwithstanding that the states' programs had, for years, fulfilled the published SPDG priorities. For example, consistent with published SPDG priorities, plaintiff state of California's program implemented critical reforms to California's personnel development in early intervention, early education, and transition services to ensure children with disabilities receive the support they need to thrive in both the short and long term."

The Trump administration called for the review and termination of federal grants in January 2025, the plaintiffs say. The plaintiff states received what they describe as boilerplate notices in September 2025 that the administration was discontinuing grant funding. 

"The notices also made clear that the 'priorities and policy preferences' of the current administration include a reflexive hostility to any reference, no matter how fleeting, to diversity, equity, or inclusion," the plaintiffs say. 

The plaintiffs say the cancellations were unlawful, because the department relied on unpublished policy priorities, improperly changed the rules, and failed to adequately explain its decisions, among other things. 

The plaintiffs' requests for reconsideration were then summarily denied, they say.

The State Personnel Development Grant program was founded in 2004 through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in an effort to improve educational outcomes for children with disabilities.

There are more than 880,000 students in California who are eligible for special education services, according to the press release from the California Department of Justice. 

A federal judge in Oregon previously ruled against the Trump administration over its cancellation of grant money for research, finding three environmental groups were likely targeted over references to DEI on their websites. The Ninth Circuit upheld that decision for research grants, but reversed the judge's ruling that blocked the cancellation of other grants.

The California Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Ninth Circuit's ruling. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education also did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the lawsuit.

Source: Courthouse News Service