The Trump administration on Thursday issued a sweeping directive requiring K-12 schools and state education agencies to certify within 10 days that they do not implement any unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices or risk losing access to federal education funding, including billions in Title I aid for low-income students.
The Education Department sent a letter to state officials mandating that they sign and return a certification affirming compliance with federal civil rights laws and disclaiming the use of any discriminatory DEI policies. "Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a statement. "Too many schools... use DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics."
The certification follows a February 14 memo declaring that any policy treating students or staff differently based on race violates federal law. The administration cited the 2023 Supreme Court decision that banned affirmative action in college admissions as justification for expanding scrutiny across K-12 education.
The new directive warns that schools using illegal DEI practices could face litigation, be ordered to repay funds, or be stripped of federal funding altogether. It specifically identifies potential violations under the False Claims Act and threatens to withhold grants, contracts, and Title I allocations.
- Key Actions in the Certification Letter:
- 10-day deadline to submit signed certification
- Applies to all state education offices and school systems
- Warns of penalties under False Claims Act for noncompliance
- Cites federal law barring race-based advantage in programs
"This is quite unprecedented," said Jonathan Collins, co-director of the politics and education program at Columbia University's Teachers College. He characterized the memo as a signal that the federal government may begin "combing through districts' policies, curricular units and other activities to essentially plant red flags when they see issues."
Critics argue the order contradicts Trump's own promises of returning education control to states. "Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the certification requirement illegal. "He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology," Weingarten said, noting that federal law prohibits the White House from determining curricula and mandates due process before federal funding can be withheld.
The American Federation of Teachers has filed a lawsuit to block the February 14 memo, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Education Association. The Education Department has asked for an extension until April 11 to respond to the lawsuit.
Michael Pillera, director of the educational opportunities project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and a former civil rights official at the department, said the memo is meant to intimidate rather than clarify legal obligations. "The letter in no way changed the law," Pillera said. "All that changed is the department's behavior and its desire to intimidate and chill activities and school districts."
Education officials in several states are scrambling to assess how the new order may affect ongoing DEI initiatives. While the department says it allows culturally themed events like Black History Month, it maintains that "many schools have advanced discriminatory policies and practices under the banner of 'DEI' initiatives."
Liz King, senior director of education policy at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, warned that the latest order could become a "gotcha game" for enforcement. "Of course there's a deadline," King said. "This is only the latest fire drill in a campaign of chaos and fear."
Meanwhile, similar tactics have been deployed against universities. The Education Department previously froze $400 million in funding to Columbia University amid an investigation into antisemitism and has pressured Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania on comparable grounds.
