Blue States Are Keeping DEI On Life Support

Several states are promising to resist the Trump administration’s effort to root out divisive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)  initiatives from schools.

The Department of Education (ED) in February sent a directive to state education chiefs reminding them that they are bound by civil rights laws and cannot make admission or hiring decisions or host exclusionary programs based on race. Now, several states are signaling opposition to the administration’s latest request, issued April 3, requiring all states receiving federal education funds t0 provide proof that DEI initiatives are not in use as a condition for continued federal financial assistance.

New York state was one of the first to push back against the administration, with New York Schools Counsel and Deputy Commissioner Daniel Morton-Bentley stating in a letter to ED that the state would not comply as “there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) similarly vowed noncompliance with the federal directive in a letter sent by Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Willie Jett. “MDE has long followed federal law in implementing federal programs. There is nothing unlawful in the principles underlying programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Indeed, ED has long supported these principles,” Jett wrote in the letter to the administration.

ED initially said that schools must prove compliance within 10 days of the April 3 memo, warning that noncompliance would risk the loss of federal funding or a referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ), though ED extended the deadline to April 24. Sixteen states thus far have declined to certify that “illegal” DEI practices are not in use, according to Education Week, though the states did claim compliance with Title VI.

“Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in ED’s memo. “When state education commissioners accept federal funds, they agree to abide by federal antidiscrimination requirements. 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.”

Shortly after ED sent the April 3 memo, Democrat Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson threatened to sue the Trump administration if it attempted to cut the $1.3 billion in federal funding it received for the current academic year, saying, “It’s unconstitutional to disrupt freedom of speech.” The federal funding accounts for roughly 16% of the district’s annual budget.

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) further sent a letter to ED arguing that the state has already certified its Title VI compliance and claiming that the administration’s directive was “unclear” as to which programs it seeks to regulate. “Although the letter references ‘certain DEI practices’ or ‘illegal DEI,’ it does not define it, and there are no federal or State laws prohibiting diversity, equity, or inclusion,” ISBE’s letter states.

Chicago Public Schools still maintains an “Office of Equity,” which includes a DEI resource guide aiming to “assist school teams in their DEI planning.” Some of the resources listed provide information on “improv[ing] diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training and hiring practices in schools.” (RELATED: Blue State Rejects Trump’s Order To Remove DEI From Schools)

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a city council meeting as the Council discusses a symbolic resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas on January 31, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The California Department of Education also questioned the authority of the federal government to request that officials end all use of DEI practices, instructing schools within the state not to respond to the administration’s letter. The state receives roughly $16.3 billion each year in federal funding, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In an April 11 letter sent to ED, California’s Chief Deputy Supt. David Schapira wrote, “There is nothing in state or federal law … that outlaws the broad concepts of ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ or ‘inclusion.’”

“Just because [President Donald] Trump ordered it, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” Noelle Ellerson Ng, a legislative advocate for the School Superintendents Association, told California school administrators in February. “Executive orders on their own can’t really accomplish much … There’s a distinct difference between activity and productivity.”

California has already found itself in the hot seat with Trump’s ED as the department investigates several of the state’s universities for allegedly using race as a factor for admission despite the 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action policies.

A 2022 report found that California spent roughly $500 million on DEI initiatives over the span of a few years, including topics such as “racial equity” workshops and employee training. Several school districts in the state are also under federal investigation for allegedly allowing children to change their gender identity while at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

Meanwhile, Michigan’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Rice wrote to the Trump administration on April 10 claiming that schools in the state were already in compliance and that further certification was “unnecessary.” In a letter sent to local superintendents the same day, Rice affirmed that the state does practice DEI, but insisted that the practice is fully legal.

“[M]any efforts to promote programs that support diversity and inclusion seek to expand opportunities, not limit them, and therefore do not discriminate,” Rice wrote on April 10. “Many of the activities that fall under the broad banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion are not zero sum … but rather positive sum. In other words, in these positive-sum activities, there are no preferences per se and by extension no losers, no illegal discrimination, and no Title VI violations associated therewith.”

Not long after the February memo was sent, the School Superintendents Association (AASA), which “serves as the national voice for public education” and is made up of school administrators from across the nation, advised school districts to ignore the guidance. Higher education groups, such as the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) as well as policy-advising organizations like the American Council on Education (ACE) told institutions to resist the department’s request, with AAUP stating, “We must vigorously oppose the assault on our education.”

“To be abundantly clear, Dear Colleague letters are not law,” Ted Mitchell, president of ACE, said at a policy briefing Tuesday, according to Inside Higher Ed. “They are simply statements of intent by executive agencies about how they intend to interpret the law. And so overcompliance, anticipatory compliance, pre-emptive compliance, is not a strategy. The strategy needs to be much more considered, much more nuanced.”

While individual states and local officials may feel confident in their interpretation of Title VI, the move to shield DEI policies places millions of dollars in funding from the federal government, at least temporarily, on the line.

“[T]he Department’s request for certification is not controversial: When schools accept federal funding, they are obligated to uphold federal civil rights laws,” Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications for ED, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Similarly, the Department of Education has a responsibility to ensure that educational entities are protecting students’ civil rights. The Department is merely asking states to verify their compliance with this basic responsibility, which they should have been able to do every year since 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was signed into law.”

The Trump administration has a track record of upholding its promise to cut funding for noncompliance with federal directives. Several universities have become the targets of such funding cuts over allegedly failing to adequately address antisemitism complaints on campus.

Trump’s administration similarly followed through on a promise to revoke federal funds for Maine if the state continued to allow males to compete in female sports. Maine responded by suing the administration over what it claims is the “blatantly unlawful” act of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “freezing federal funds allocated to Maine to feed schoolchildren.” The administration clarified that the frozen funds would not affect federal feeding programs or direct assistance.

ED has since pulled all K-12 funding from Maine and referred it to the DOJ after several warnings. The DOJ has since filed a lawsuit against the state over its continuous noncompliance.

DEI initiatives were heavily promoted under the Biden administration, which spend roughly $600 million on diversity training programs for teachers alone, which instructed them to “to take personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities” and acknowledge “systemic forms of oppression and inequity, including racism, ableism, ‘gender-based’ discrimination, homophobia, and ageism.”

Millions of taxpayer dollars were also poured into pushing topics such as “climate literacy,” or climate change, “LGBTQ inclusion” and “anti-racism and anti-oppression” in schools. Over $100 million worth of grants went to universities meant to train K-12 social workers in critical race theory, social justice and DEI. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: MA School District Rolls Out New DEI Positions Despite Trump’s Orders)

Since returning to office, Trump has worked to root out DEI initiatives as well as lesson on critical race theory from schools and federal agencies, signing several executive orders banning the use of federal funding to support such topics, such as the day one order “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.” Hundreds of documents outlining DEI practices have been scrubbed from the ED’s website, staff members have been placed on administrative leave and all DEI training has been halted under Trump’s direction, with widespread support from voters.

The New York, Illinois, Minnesota and California Education Departments did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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