Education leaders in Democratic-led states are pushing back against the Trump administration’s efforts to deny federal funding from public schools that operate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The federal Department of Education last week gave states 10 days to obtain certifications from school districts confirming that those diversity, equity and inclusion programs had ended. States that declined to participate stood at risk of losing federal funds.
The Education Department said Monday it would extend the 10-day deadline to April 24.
“Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement announcing the order. “Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate [anti-discrimination requirements], 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.”
But in communications to local school district leaders and more publicly, officials in at least seven states — California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington — have refused to comply, questioning the administration’s authority to cut such funding. New Jersey officials have said they are exploring their options.
The Department of Education “does not have the authority to unilaterally overrule the will of Congress,” Willie Jett, commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Education, wrote to federal officials. “The current uncertainty and threats would penalize the most vulnerable children in Minnesota and are a distraction from the good work we need to do to ensure every student has access to a world-class education.”
Jett wrote to federal officials that the order did not clearly point out specific programs that needed to end. In his own letter to federal officials, New York Education Department Deputy Commissioner Daniel Morton-Bentley said the federal order overstepped.
“[T]here are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of D.E.I.,” Morton-Bentley wrote. “No further certification will be forthcoming.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) pledged to sue the Trump administration if it cut any funding.
The Education Department’s order cites a 2023 Supreme Court case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, in which the high court ruled that race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions processes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. In his statement, Trainor said that case applied to local school districts as well, citing Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the opinion.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon used social media to praise New Hampshire and Puerto Rico, which have complied with the order. The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher’s union, filed suit in New Hampshire to block the order.
Several states rejecting the order said their school districts had already complied with required Title VI assurances.
“The Department has been faithfully implementing education programs in accordance with all federal law, including anti discrimination law, and will continue to do so,” wrote Patrick Tutwiler, interim commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “I am confident that our programs — and the principles underlying our programs — are fully compliant with Title VI.”
“We will not sign additional certifications that lack authority, lack clarity or are an assault on the autonomy of states and local schools sitarists by misapplying a higher education admissions case,” Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said in a statement. “It would be irresponsible to do so.”
The pushback from state education departments stands in stark contrast with leaders of prominent colleges and universities such as Columbia, which agreed to a series of changes the Trump administration demanded as a precondition for restoring $400 million in grant money the administration slashed last month. Despite that agreement, the National Institutes of Health said Wednesday it would freeze another $250 million in federal funding for Columbia.
Federal funding makes up a little less than 14% of the overall funding for public K-12 education, according to the Education Data Initiative. The vast majority of funding that flows to K-12 schools comes from state coffers.