We explain why the president is taking on public schools, and how officials are responding.
Harvard might be the most famous educational institution opposing President Trump’s threats of funding cuts and a federal takeover, but it’s not the only one. Another legal battle is brewing that affects a far different, and far larger, group of students.
The Trump administration is threatening to withhold billions of federal dollars from public schools that serve low-income children, unless they sign documents attesting that they do not use “illegal D.E.I. practices.” Those funds pay for, among other things, teachers’ aides, counselors and free meals.
The threats may not have much of an effect in Republican-led states, many of which already have anti-D.E.I. laws on the books. But many schools in Democratic-led states have programs and policies regarding race and gender that Trump considers illegal.
Last week, the administration announced that it was moving to cancel federal funding to all schools in Maine because of its rules regarding transgender athletes. It has threatened to do the same in California because of the state’s policies around parental notification and transgender students.
Education officials in about a dozen states, mostly liberal, have refused to adopt Trump’s directives. And advocacy groups like the A.C.L.U. and the N.A.A.C.P. have filed lawsuits challenging the threatened cuts. One of those is set to go before a federal judge in New Hampshire today.
In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain why the president is taking on K-12 education, and how officials are responding.
