The council claimed that the department breached equality laws by cutting its budget by £10m in 2010, which disproportionally affected the county's disabled children and those in areas of deprivation.
The funding was allocated for building new facilities and upgrading existing substandard accommodation, including making buildings accessible to disabled children and suitable for the provision of daycare.
Essex County Council said that the cut to funding affected a large number of projects and that it had to use money from other budgets to compensate.
High Court judge Mr Justice Mitting found that education secretary Mr Gove had not met his legal obligations under equality laws, and ruled the education secretary's decision was unlawful and must therefore be reviewed.
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