education

Department of Education: Schools Embracing DEI Will Lose Funding

The Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter warning states and schools that they must eliminate discriminatory “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) trainings and curriculums and end racial preferences in hiring and admissions – or lose federal education funds.

The letter was sent on February 14 by the DOE’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor and applies “to all preschool, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary educational institutions, as well as state educational agencies, that receive financial assistance.”

The letter, from the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights, warned, “Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.”

The letter began with a clear statement, “Discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is illegal and morally reprehensible.”

Trainor then went on to explain two ways schools have violated federal non-discrimination laws. First, they have done this through “race-based preferences” and second, in using DEI in teacher training and classroom instruction.

Regarding race-based preferences, Trainor’s letter explained:

In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families. These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia.
 
For example, colleges, universities, and K-12 schools have routinely used race as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming.

The DOE also noted, “In a shameful echo of a darker period in this country’s history, many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in dormitories and other facilities.”

The letter explained that the U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2023 decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College, found race-based preferences in college admissions unconstitutional.

Trainor wrote that the test for this discrimination is simple:

If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law. Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.

The civil rights letter also told state departments of education and schools that DEI programs violated students constitutional rights:

Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon “systemic and structural racism” and advanced discriminatory policies and practices. Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them – particularly during the last four years – under the banner of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline. 

DEI is based on radical concepts from critical race theory and radical feminist ideology, beliefs rooted in Marxist- and Freudian-based critical legal theory. When used in schools, DEI teaches staff and students:

  • Everyone is racist and misogynist.
  • People have overlapping identities which make them “oppressed” or an “oppressor.”
  • “Gender” is one of those identities, and it is a “social construct.”
  • “Anti-racism,” LGBT activism and radical feminist action must be employed to fight this systemic bigotry. 

As the letter explained, “DEI programs … frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not.” As a result, the letter stated, these programs “deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of a school.”

The Dear Colleague letter followed an executive order from President Donald Trump, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” The order indicted false, divisive ideologies like critical race theory and gender ideology, explaining their negative effects on students.

Another executive order directed different agency heads to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

While most K-12 education is funded by state and local governments, the DOE provides support for a variety of areas, including personnel, curriculums, technology and special education programs. According to the Education Data Initiative, “K-12 schools nationwide receive $119.1 billion total or $2,400 per pupil from the federal government.”

The DOE also offers grants for college students, such as Pell Grants, to the tune of $44.3 billion in 2023-2024.

The letter offered a link to the DOE Office of Civil Rights where individuals can file complaints against schools that continue to discriminate through racial preferences and DEI training, programs and curriculums.

Related articles and resources:

Focus on the Family’s free parenting resource Equipping Parents for Back to School explains issues like educational freedom, parental rights in education, critical race theory, sexual education, and religious freedom and free speech in schools. It’s a terrific resource for parents who want to advocate for their children and guide them toward academic success.

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Tennessee Governor Signs ‘Education Freedom Act,’ Expands School Choice  

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Educational Freedom Act of 2025 earlier this week, creating 20,000 educational scholarships for students for the 2025-2026 school year. The bill also gives all public school teachers a one-time, $2,000 bonus for the current school year.

This legislation is part of a growing movement toward giving families the freedom to choose the best type of education for their children, allowing them to thrive and succeed.

At the bill’s signing, the governor said:

I learned a long time ago that education changes the trajectory of a child’s life forever. Today we put in place a piece of legislation that will change the future of Tennessee forever, because it changes the trajectory of the next generation of Tennessee.

The legislation, H.B. 6004, was passed in a special session of the General Assembly, with the House approving the measure by a vote of 54-44 and the Senate with a 20-13 vote.

According to the governor’s Education Freedom website, “20,000 scholarships will be available to Tennessee students.” This includes:

  • 10,000 scholarships for students at or below 300% of income qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, have a disability, or are eligible for the existing ESA [Education Savings Account] program.
  • 10,000 additional scholarships available to a universal pool of students entitled to attend a public school.

The scholarships, amounting to a little over $7,000, can be used for tuition and fees at a private school of a family’s choice, along with textbooks, instructional materials and uniforms at the private school. Money can also be used for transportation, tutoring and computer technology for educational needs.

In addition, “There will be an automatic growth trigger of 5,000 additional scholarships for each year after 75% of total scholarships are taken in the prior year.” The bill denies scholarships to students who cannot establish their “lawful presence in the United States.”

The Education Freedom Act was applauded by groups who want parents and families to have more freedom in choosing the education that best fits their children’s needs.

Americans for Prosperity Tennessee State Director Tori Venable released a statement thanking the governor and state legislators who supported the measure, saying, “Today marks a historic moment for Tennessee families and students. We applaud Governor Lee for his work to provide Tennessee kids with the best educational opportunities to fit their individual needs, from crafting this legislation to signing it into law.”

She explained that the organization had “ been a strong advocate for school choice, directly connecting with nearly 200,000 Tennesseans at their doors and over the phone in the past year alone.” Venable added, “We’re proud to see this massive win after combined years of policy and political work to empower parents across the Volunteer State.”

The American Federation for Children also celebrated, with Vice President of Government Affairs Ryan Cantrell saying:

Thanks to their hard work, Tennessee has now joined the ranks of dozens of states taking decisive action to address the gaping holes in our public education system. Parents across the country gave elected leaders a mandate to expand education freedom, and Tennessee has delivered it.

Related articles and resources:

Focus on the Family’s free parenting resource Equipping Parents for Back to School explains issues like educational freedom, parental rights in education, and religious freedom and free speech in schools. It’s a terrific resource for parents who want to advocate for their children and guide them toward academic success.

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Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

Yesterday, President Trump celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by signing a much-anticipated executive order to protect women’s sports and spaces across the United States.

The signing ceremony was packed with female athletes and other champions for women and girls in the East Room at the White House.

Some more well known female athletes included Riley Gaines and Payton McNabb — the high school volleyball player who was knocked unconscious when a male playing on the opposing girls’ volleyball team spiked a volleyball into her face.

President Trump told attendees that his executive order is about commonsense.

He said, “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women.”

The executive order is titled, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

The order declares that the practice of letting men compete in women’s sports is “demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

The order continues:

Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.

The order is applicable to K-12 public schools, colleges and universities.

At the signing ceremony, President Trump said, “We are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice – if you let men take over woman’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding. There will be no federal funding.”

The order requires the secretary of education “take all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms” and directs the secretary to prioritize enforcement against schools that violate the policy. 

Additionally, the secretary of state is directed to use all appropriate and available measures to convince the Olympics Committee to limit women’s sports to only female athletes.

The order is a victory for every girl and every woman who advocated for a level playing field in sports, talked about fairness in competition, and refused to be silenced or canceled by radical transgender activists.

Earlier this week, a new pro-woman video with Riley Gaines went viral after being shared by J.K. Rowling. The post, featuring the video, got over six million views in the first 36 hours.

President Trump told attendees that the war on women’s sports is over and while that might be true under this Administration there are no guarantees in the next.

The only way forward is to cement this executive order into federal law; legislation to do so was introduced in the House of Representatives last month. 

It is imperative that Congress act as soon as possible to protect women’s sports and spaces through statute.

We can never go back to the dark days of the past where women were denied equal opportunities, their safety and security was sacrificed on the altar of gender ideology.

Image from Getty.

Trump Ends Radical Indoctrination, Promotes Education Freedom

President Donald J. Trump signed two significant education-related executive orders on January 29. The first aims to increase educational freedom for families, while the second is designed to stop the indoctrination of children into “radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight.”

The Executive Order Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families directs the Department of Education to “issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives,” and it directs the DOE to prioritize education freedom “in discretionary grant programs.”

The directive explains the need for greater freedom for parents to improve their children’s academic success and provide “the best education for their children”:  

Too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school.

According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.

When only 30% of students are mastering basic subjects like reading and math, something is desperately wrong.

The order goes on to state that when schools fail to educate students, “It hinders our national competitiveness and devastates families and communities.”

The executive order provides more momentum for the growing educational freedom movement. The goals of this movement include giving teachers and schools freedom to innovate, encouraging school transparency, holding schools accountable for educational outcomes, safeguarding parental rights in education, and expanding school choice.

School choice is a vital aspect of educational freedom, offering parents a variety of options for how and where to educate their children. Options include traditional public schools, magnet schools, homeschooling opportunities, charter schools, online learning, private schools and hybrid models, which combine several alternatives.

States that support parents’ rights in education provide funding for these choices through different means, such as scholarships, vouchers, educational savings accounts, tax credits and tax deductions. The best option for parents is when states allow funds to follow students to their schooling choice.

While the federal government doesn’t control state legislatures or boards of education, which set policies, regulations and guidelines in each state, it does provide education dollars to states through a variety of programs. States can’t be forced to increase educational freedom, but the order offers incentives to improve educational freedom through funding from different federal departments.

The second order, Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, first explains some of the activist ideologies that have swept across our educational system and why they are damaging. The order states that parents entrust their children to schools to provide them “with a rigorous education and to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation and the values for which we stand.”

Instead, the directive explains, “Parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination.”

The order indicts false, immoral and divisive ideologies like critical race theory and gender ideology, explaining their effect on students:

In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed.

These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity.

The order goes on to direct several agencies to collaborate with the attorney general to develop a strategy to end “federal funding or support for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools.”   

In addition, federal agencies must monitor schools that receive federal monies, ensuring that they hold an annual educational program, teach students about the U.S. Constitution on September 17, Constitution Day.

Finally, the executive order reestablishes the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission, which Trump launched in September 2020, appointing Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry P. Arnn to serve as chairman.

One goal for the revived commission is to promote patriotic education, while a second is “to advise and promote the work of the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday (“Task Force 250”) and the United States Semiquincentennial Commission.”

Related articles and resources:

Focus on the Family’s free parenting resource Equipping Parents for Back to School explains issues like educational freedom, parental rights in education, and religious freedom and free speech in schools. It’s a terrific resource for parents who want to advocate for their children and guide them toward academic success.

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Image from Getty.

Will Supreme Court Allow Nation’s First Religious Charter School?

Just in time for Catholic Schools Week, the United States Supreme Court has announced plans to review the constitutionality of a new publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City’s “Saint Isidore of Seville” was supposed to open back in 2023, but a lawsuit has stalled its anticipated opening.

Isidore of Seville, who died in 686 A.D., has been referred to as “the last scholar of the ancient world.” In fact, back in 1997, Pope John Paull II designated Isidore as the patron saint of the internet, an acknowledgement of his significant contributions to communicating vast amounts of knowledge.

But supporters of what would be the nation’s first Christian charter school have faced resistance, including push back from inside the otherwise conservative Oklahoma government.

Gentner Drummond, the Sooner State’s attorney general, has opposed the formation of the institution, suggesting it violates the state constitution.

“The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond has warned. 

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has strongly disagreed, suggesting that to prohibit the publicly funded charter school sends a chilling and discriminatory message.

“I’m glad the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing the St. Isidore case,” he wrote last week.

“This stands to be one of the most significant religious and education freedom decisions in our lifetime. I believe our nation’s highest court will agree that denying St. Isidore’s charter based solely on its religious affiliation is flat-out unconstitutional. We’ve seen ugly religious intolerance from opponents of the education freedom movement, but I look forward to seeing our religious liberties protected both in Oklahoma and across the country.”

In crafting the school’s mission statement, organizers made clear that being a Catholic isn’t a prerequisite for admission.

Here’s St. Isidore’s founding aim:

Guided by our Catholic faith, [St. Isidore] serves God and families by spiritually and academically preparing students, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, for lives of intellectual excellence, holiness, and service to others with the ultimate goal of eternal salvation by bringing quality, Catholic education to all parts of Oklahoma. 

Focus on the Family has historically championed the belief that mothers and fathers should be allowed to spend their educational tax dollars as they so wish. Whether at a faith-based school or some other private institution, no parent should be forced to fund the increasingly woke propaganda that’s masquerading these days as age-appropriate public-school curriculum.

We also believe religious organizations should be given the same rights and privileges as any other secular group.

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court voted 7-1 last year to block the school’s opening, agreeing in large part with AG Drummond’s legal reasoning.

Justice Dana Kuehn offered the lone dissent.

“Contracting with a private entity that has religious affiliations, by itself, does not establish a state religion, nor does it favor one religion over another,” Kuehn wrote.

Alliance Defending Freedom’s Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell cheered the High Court’s decision to accept the case.

“Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more educational choices, not fewer,” Campbell wrote. “There’s great irony in state officials who claim to be in favor of religious liberty discriminating against St. Isidore because of its Catholic beliefs.”

He added, “The U.S. Constitution protects St. Isidore’s freedom to operate according to its faith … We’re pleased the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this case, which is of the utmost import to families and children in Oklahoma and throughout the country.”

Back in 2022, the High Court ruled that Maine’s attempt to exclude religious schools from its tuition-assistance program violated the First Amendment. 

Given the Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments this winter or spring, we can expect a decision by summer.

Image from Shutterstock.