California signals possible defiance of Trump anti-DEI order that threatens school funding
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California education officials have signaled they could defy a Trump administration order intended to end all diversity, equity and inclusion programs — even as federal officials threaten to cut off billions of dollars per year in federal education funding.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday had given states 10 days to collect certifications from each school district confirming that all DEI efforts have ended — and warned that failure to comply puts federal funding at risk. The Trump administration argues that DEI programs are a form of race-based discrimination and violate civil rights laws.
In a letter to school district superintendents Friday, the California Department of Education, or CDE, appeared to question the authority of the federal government to take such an action.
All 50 states are under the same order; New York and Minnesota have directly refused the Trump administration demand. Chicago’s mayor promised to sue over any cuts.
California officials noted that the state’s 1,000 school districts regularly and routinely affirm that they are complying with federal law and “have already submitted such assurances” and compliance is “monitored annually through ... multiple accounting mechanisms,” according to the letter, which was provided to The Times.
The Trump administration ratchets up pressure: California and its school districts must sign anti-DEI certification to keep federal funding potentially worth billions.
The CDE letter is signed by David Schapira, chief deputy superintendent of public instruction under state schools chief Tony Thurmond.
“The CDE plans to respond to [the Education Department] on behalf of the state” and school districts “by the requested date, and we will share a copy of our response with you for your information once we have submitted it,” Schapira wrote.
Notably, the letter does not direct school districts to send a certification to the state or federal government or to move to dismantle any programs within the narrow 10-day time frame. On Monday, federal officials extended the compliance window to 24 days.
Vermont responded in a manner similar to California.
The U.S. Department of Education this week did not provide a response to the letter sent to California school districts by state education officials. However, Education Secretary Linda McMahon on social media praised the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico for complying.
Last week’s federal demand follows a Feb. 14 letter in which the U.S. Department of Education told all K-12 school districts and higher education institutions to end the consideration of race in “admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
Since then, many colleges and universities in California and throughout the country have eliminated diversity efforts, typically referred to as DEI, scrubbing references from their websites.
The Thursday certification demand is a next step in the enforcement process, federal officials said.
“Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. He said many schools have flouted their legal obligations, “including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another.”
The certification form included several pages of legal analysis in support of the administration’s demands, which are based, in large part, on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action in college admissions through a lawsuit brought against Harvard University.
Trump ups ante to force California to abandon gender identity law against “forced outing” in schools, threatening school lunch funding for students from low-income families.
Trainor quoted Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who said: “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”
But New York officials challenged the linkage to the Supreme Court case.
The New York Education Department “is unaware of any authority” of the Education Department “to demand that a State Education Agency agree to its interpretation of a judicial decision or change the terms and conditions” of federal funding “without formal administrative process,” wrote Daniel Morton-Bentley, counsel and deputy commissioner.
“We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion,’” Morton-Bentley continued. “But there are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”
He added: “No further certification will be forthcoming.”
The U.S. Department of Education also did not provide a response to the letter from New York education officials.
Although federal funding for education is challenging to calculate and arrives through multiple channels, some tallies put the figure at $16.3 billion per year in California — including money for school meals, students with disabilities and early education Head Start programs. The Los Angeles Unified School District has estimated that it receives about $1.26 billion a year, somewhat less than 10% of its annual budget.
A statement from L.A. Unified approached the issue with caution: “While this request for certification or assurance of compliance with federal law is similar to other certifications from [the Education Department], the District awaits guidance from the California Department of Education — as the correspondence about the certification form was directed to State Educational Agencies.”
The administration already has issued similar threats to school districts and states over policies related to transgender students and sex education curriculum.
Federal officials have launched an investigation of the California Department of Education for allegedly withholding from parents information about changes to their child’s gender identity, once again with billions of dollars potentially at stake.
Federal officials contend that the California law violates a federal law that guarantees parents’ access to their child’s school records. The federal law, they say, takes precedence.
State officials responded that the California law does not violate federal statutes because it does not affect the right of parents to request and receive records.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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