Trump Administration
The Education Department threatened the federal funding of states that wouldn’t comply with the administration’s anti-DEI interpretation of civil rights law. With that demand paused, states are suing to end it entirely.
Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is urging the district community to reach out to lawmakers to express their concerns about potential education funding cuts.
The Education Department had given states until Thursday to certify compliance with its controversial interpretation of civil rights law. Federal judges complicated that effort hours before the deadline.
The Trump administration said the orders would make schools safer and give teachers more tools to maintain behavior in their classrooms. The move is tied to the administration’s broader effort to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools.
Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said the state already complies with civil rights laws and therefore isn’t required to sign a certification the federal government wants.
City officials also promised to help stabilize Head Start providers facing funding threats from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration wants state officials to certify that schools are following its interpretation of civil rights laws, or else lose federal funding. Some are refusing to comply.
The regional office that handled federal complaints in Michigan is gone. Parents, including those whose children have disabilities, worry their cases may never be resolved.
The Trump administration is seeking to withhold Maine’s federal K-12 education money over its policies for trans student athletes.
The U.S. Department of Education says the decision follows a Title IX investigation into the state’s policy about transgender athletes.
The lawsuit from 16 Democratic state attorney generals and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is part of a salvo of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s education directives.
However, Commissioner Susana Córdova said she will sign a new assurance that the state is in compliance with Title VI, which bans discrimination on the basis of race.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education sent a letter to the Trump administration certifying that the state “has and will continue to comply” with civil rights laws.
State officials are collecting signatures from schools and districts to ensure they’re following a directive from the U.S. Department of Education.
Everything from freezers in the school kitchens to material costs for new school buildings could be impacted by the tariffs, most of which begin April 9. Books are generally exempt – but not the paper they’re printed on.
The letter from New York officials represents some of the earliest and most forceful pushback to the Trump administration’s threat to state education agencies over DEI efforts.
Philadelphia’s school district budget relies on more than $190 million in federal money from the Title I funding formula alone.
The federal education department told state education leaders they must certify within 10 days that their schools do not participate in practices the administration deems illegally promote DEI.
The Trump administration has sought to restrict how schools can address topics of race, gender, and sexuality. But in NYC schools, the push for diverse instruction continues.
‘Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,’ a Trump education civil rights official warned states.