A federal judge declined a request Wednesday to block an Alabama law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public schools and the teaching of what Republican lawmakers dubbed "divisive concepts" related to race and gender.

U.S. District Judge David Proctor wrote that University of Alabama students and professors who filed a lawsuit challenging the law as unconstitutional did not meet the legal burden required for a preliminary injunction, which he called "an extraordinary and drastic remedy." The civil lawsuit challenging the statute will go forward, but the law will remain in place while it does.

The Alabama law prohibits public schools from funding or sponsoring any DEI program. It also prohibits schools from requiring students to assent to eight "divisive concepts"

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