Deadline Approaches for Public Schools: Will They Ditch DEI Policies to Keep Federal Funding?

The Department of Education is warning state education agencies that they might face cuts to federal funding if they don’t remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. This warning came in a letter sent to all 50 states.

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, stated that schools not following federal civil rights law could risk losing their funding. The letter emphasized that the department would take action to ensure compliance, starting in two weeks.

The letter references a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. This decision found that affirmative action in college admissions violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The department believes this ruling should influence broader policies in education.

According to the letter, treating students differently based on race to achieve goals like diversity or social justice is against the law. The Department of Education urged state education leaders to make sure their practices align with civil rights laws and to stop using race proxies or outside contractors to sidestep these regulations.

This letter follows a series of executive orders from President Trump aimed at eliminating what he termed “illegal and discriminatory” practices in schools. The Department of Education has since taken steps to remove references to DEI from its documents and disbanded its Diversity & Inclusion Council.

On the same day the letter was issued, the Department of Government Efficiency, under Elon Musk’s leadership, announced they had terminated 70 DEI training grants, part of a larger effort to cut what they view as wasteful government spending.

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