Advocacy & Litigation

The NAACP is joining with LDF in filing an amicus brief in Fairfax County Sch. Bd. and Arlington Cty. Sch. Bd v. McMahon, now pending in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  This case has implications for Black public school students in Fairfax and Arlington counties in Virginia and for beneficiaries of public funding across the Fourth Circuit.  

On August 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education("DE") announced it was placing Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools (the Divisions) in Northern Virginia on high-risk status because the schools recognized "gender identity" with regard to bathrooms.  DE halted all federal funding flowing to these districts, forcing the districts to pay out of pocket first, then submit requests to the federal government for reimbursement. Fairfax and Arlington challenged the determination of their status as high risk.

The District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, concluding that the Supreme Court's recent decision in National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Ass'n requires that all claims related to grant terminations go to the Court of Federal Claims pursuant to the Tucker Act. In the amicus brief, we would argue that this is a broad overread of the NIH decision, which concluded that internal guidance does not fall within the purview of the Tucker Act even when it relates to or results in grant terminations. 

It is our position that the "high-risk" designation is akin to this sort of internal guidance. Sister courts' interpretation of the NIH decision supports this understanding.  Under the decision being appealed, DE could also stop all funding to school districts based upon the administration's announced views of what constitutes racial discrimination, and such decisions could not be challenged in district court.  

Read the full filing.