WASHINGTON (AP) —The Trump administration is ordering schools nationwide to certify that they are following federal civil rights laws — and eliminating DEI practices — as a condition for receiving federal money.
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A notice sent Thursday by the Education Department gives the nation’s states and schools 10 days to sign and return the certification. It marks another escalation in the Trump administration’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, apparently giving the administration a new lever for terminating federal money. “Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement.
The certification asks state and school leaders to acknowledge that their federal aid is conditioned on compliance with antidiscrimination laws. It says “the use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law” and result in a termination of funding.
It follows a Feb. 14 memo declaring that any school policy that treats students or staff differently because of their race is illegal. It aimed to fight what the memo described as widespread discrimination in education, often against white and Asian American students.