DEI in schools: NYS Education Department says it will not comply with federal directive

The New York State Education Department vowed to defy a Trump administration directive that states certify they had ended racial preferences and other diversity, equity and inclusion programs in K-12 schools, or risk losing federal funding. 

Responding on Friday to the directive, issued a day earlier to all state education departments in the United States, New York Education Department counsel Daniel Morton-Bentley wrote that the Trump administration "seeks to censor anything it deems 'diversity, equity & inclusion,' " but "there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

It was unclear from Morton-Bentley's letter the extent to which the state Education Department practices or requires DEI. Department spokesman JP O'Hare did not return an email Saturday seeking the answer.

The state Education Department maintains an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, whose website states that for students "learning becomes possible — and joyful — when they are seen, heard and valued for who they are."

Federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education have regulatory powers to enact rules that interpret laws and court decisions, but New York believes that the Trump administration has exceeded its authority. The administration, in the directive to which Morton-Bentley was responding, says that DEI is prohibited at the state level due to federal civil rights law and a 2023 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting affirmative action in college admission. 

Among the prohibitions, the department has said that educational institutions can’t use “race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, scholarship, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline and other programs and activities.”

In its letter, the federal Department of Education’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Craig Trainor, said: “Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation” of the law.

Citing the office of state Attorney General Letitia James, Newsday reported last month that schools in New York get nearly $6.2 billion in funding from the federal government, or $2,438 per student.

The Trump administration has moved to end DEI programs across the federal government and has used legal threats and other means to carry out similar prohibitions in education and in private organizations such as law firms, several of which have agreed to change their practices, including race-based hiring.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.