The law came on the heels of the Trump administration’s push for anti-DEI policies, starting with a “Dear Colleague” letter on February 14, the press release announcing its “End DEI” portal on February 27, and an April 3rd message strongly suggesting that states and local school districts sign a pledge that they had a “legal obligation” to follow the administration’s interpretation of Title VI and linking that compliance to continue receiving federal funding. McCafferty pointed out that the plain language of the law would prohibit identifying students based on age of the purpose of ensuring that kindergarten students were five years old, identifying students by sex for the purpose of having boys and girls bathrooms, identifying students as having special needs in order to provide appropriate services, or identifying Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird as a Black man for the purpose of giving students an understanding of historical discrimination. McCafferty notes that the anti-DEI laws specifically provide that a public school loses all sources of public funding if the school acts “unknowingly.” The law doesn’t provide a mechanism for a school district to challenge the education Commissioner’s ruling that they have violated the law.
Author: Peter Greene, Senior Contributor, Peter Greene, Senior Contributor https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/
Published at: 2025-10-08 20:50:28
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