Deadline Looms for Schools to Cut DEI Programs or Risk Losing Funding

The clock is ticking for schools across the United States to dismantle their diversity, equity and inclusion programs or risk losing federal funding.

The U.S. Department of Education has ordered state and K-12 school district leaders to certify “compliance with their antidiscrimination obligations,” which the Trump administration argues are violated by DEI programs that “advantage one race over another.”

School officials face a Thursday deadline to confirm the removal of DEI initiatives. If they don’t, they could face cuts to federal funds, which account for about 10% of public school budgets on average.

“No student should be denied opportunity or treated differently because of their race,” the department said in a statement to NewsNation. “When state education commissioners accept federal funding, they undertake the obligation to abide by federal antidiscrimination law. The Department is simply asking school districts to certify they are following the law and not using race preferences or pernicious race stereotypes in schools.”

According to Education Week, at least 16 states have declined to certify compliance, and more than a dozen are either still reviewing the order or have not issued a statement.

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