May 2025
After filing a lawsuit, on April 14, on behalf of AERA and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) that challenged the Trump administration’s unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Democracy Forward, a national legal organization, filed a follow-up motion on April 30 for a preliminary injunction to ask the court to pause the administration’s termination of IES contracts and employees while the case is being heard.
The motion for preliminary injunction was accompanied by more than a dozen declarations by members of AERA and SREE and other experts in education research, including former IES employees. Notably, these declarations spanned party lines, with former IES staff and leadership from Democratic and Republican administrations joining the call to reverse the Trump administration’s unlawful actions.
A court hearing on the motion was held on May 21 in the District Court of Maryland. Judge Stephanie Gallagher said she would likely rule on an injunction by early June.
Democracy Forward’s news release on the preliminary injunction motion is available online, and additional documents follow:
On May 22, in a separate case, a federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction on actions taken by the Trump administration to launch a reduction in force in the Department of Education and dismantle the department by executive order. (See related story.)