The Education Department's demand that K-12 districts and state officials certify their schools are free of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs is being met with open defiance from blue states and open arms by red ones.
Highlighting an already stark divide on the issue, states including New York and Minnesota are telling the federal government they will not sign off on any such certification, while several red states are already collecting signatures from their districts.
The issue poses the first major test for states and local districts bucking the education agenda of President Trump, who has shown willing aggression in going after colleges and universities he thinks are out of line.
“I am on the reservation, so pretty much ... I mean, everything that we do is DEI,” said a principal in a Republican-led state who oversees a school that is 95 percent Native American, and who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
"We don't really have a plan for it,” the principal added regarding the certification letter. “In talking to some of my other district administrators, it's kind of an attitude of, ‘We'll see what happens when it gets sorted out in the courts’ [...] ‘we'll worry about it when the time comes,’ ‘it's really not going to be what everybody thinks.’ It is just kind of a lot of disbelief, which is really frustrating.”
The April 3 letter was sent to state officials and districts to certify the institutions are in “compliance with their antidiscrimination obligations,” including ridding themselves of DEI programs, which Trump hates and has sought to eliminate through executive action.
In an extended deadline, the Education Department now says officials have until April 24 to comply.
If the programs are not gone, the administration says, funding could be pulled from the K-12 districts. Federal money makes up around 10 percent of funding for public schools, with some variation based on need, and, at the collegiate level, Trump has quickly targeted the finances of schools that displease him.
“Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation of Title VI,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, wrote in the certification letter.
Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy at the School Superintendents Association, notes that "for some states, this is going to be a non-issue."
"And I think that's important to recognize that there's going to be a lot of variety in how states respond to this and how they inform districts, or how they kind of relate the district's responsibility to respond to this,” Pudelski said.
Republican-led states including Indiana and Oklahoma have said publicly they will comply with the directive. Other red states will likely agree as many, including Florida and Texas, have laws on the books already cracking down on DEI.
“We will ensure all school districts understand and adhere to the law accordingly,” Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said. ...
