Trump calls for end to DEI programs
President Donald Trump is calling for an end to federal diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs.
Fox – Seattle
Pennsylvania education officials are reaffirming their compliance with civil rights laws in answer to a Trump administration threat to pull federal funding from schools that embrace certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education insisted in a Wednesday letter that it obeys the Civil Rights Act’s prohibitions on race-based discrimination and follows equal-access laws linked to funding streams for schools and special education students. Moreover, the letter says, all of the commonwealth’s school districts have certified “on multiple occasions” that they comply with civil rights laws against racial discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Education last week ordered state education officials across the nation to certify that they comply with anti-discrimination provisions in the Civil Rights Act — and with a Supreme Court ruling against race-based college admissions practices.
The agency said school districts cannot run programs that “advantage one’s race over another” and that certain DEI practices violate federal law. Education officials who persist in using “illegal DEI practices” could face the loss of federal funding, including Title I funds meant to support high-poverty schools.
State leaders initially had 10 days to respond, but the deadline was later extended to April 24.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, on Tuesday expressed concern over the Trump administration’s threat to withhold federal aid to schools and encouraged Pennsylvania’s congressional representatives to push back, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Pennsylvania’s Wednesday response, though, struck a less defiant note than those used by some Democrat-run states.
Minnesota and New York have refused to comply with federal demand for certification, and other states have told school districts they can disregard the directive, the Associated Press has reported.
Bethany Rodgers is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist.
