by Aziah Siid
After a series of sweeping executive orders aimed at federal hiring, contracts, and research grants, the Trump administration’s assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion has set its sights on a new target: the Department of Education.
On Monday, the DOE issued a memo declaring that it cut more than $600 million in K-12 teacher training grants because institutions and nonprofits “were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies” like anti-racism, social justice and the value of diversity.
“Schools should focus on merit-based education and equal opportunity rather than divisive ideological frameworks,” said a department spokesperson. “Federal funding should not support programs that promote exclusion under the guise of inclusivity.”
But representatives of two influential labor unions say the time has come to push back.
“We know that parents and educators want our students to thrive, not become cannon fodder for the latest culture war,” says Fedrick Ingram, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s largest teachers’ union. Ingram says. “This attack on children is wrong, and we are fighting back in the courts, in the court of public opinion, and in the streets.”
“The answer to Trump’s chaos is organization,” he says.
“Inappropriate and Unnecessary”
The Department of Education memo canceling the grants cited “inappropriate and unnecessary” topics like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); social justice activism; “anti-racism” and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy.
The grants “are awarded to teacher preparation programs that train future classroom teachers,” the memo states. It then cited examples of concepts taken from several different grant applications, including:
- “Building historical and sociopolitical understandings of race and racism to interrupt racial marginalization and oppression of students,”
- “Teaching abolitionist pedagogies and issues of diversity in classroom management,”
- “Providing spaces for critical reflection to help educators confront biases and have transformative conversations about equity.”
The cancellation of grants comes on the heels of the DOE’s “Dear Colleague” memo notifying schools they must not use “race preferences and stereotypes” in school admissions, hiring, promotion or scholarships, among other restrictions.
Legally Empty Threats
The declarations could have long-lasting effects on the way American schools approach issues of race, gender, and inclusion in education. But educators vow they are not going to yield to the White House’s plans without a fight.
Ingram says the threat to shut off federal funding to public K-12 schools and colleges for considering race “flies in the face of the law.”
“Logically and legally, these threats are empty,” he says. “In fact, federal laws, including ESSA,” the Every Student Succeeds Act, “prohibit any president from telling schools and colleges what to teach.”
Part of any pushback strategy must involve raising public awareness, which has been a challenge, Ingram says. Trump and Elon Musk’s plan, he said, is to “flood the zone with so much chaos that it’s hard for well-meaning people to pay attention.”
“The goal is to confuse, distract, and demoralize,” he says. “As a Florida native who has seen these extremists’ tactics first-hand, the solution I have found is organize, organize, organize.”
Stacey Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, agrees, agrees. She says that parents and teachers must “connect the dots and put the narrative together to organize people to resistance.”
“Parents and teachers unions need to figure out what coalition looks like and sounds like in this moment,” Gates says. As a combined force, she says, the coalition can “use each other’s power, support, and protection to create a force field” around vulnerable children and schools.
“Parents need to expect teachers and their unions to bargain contracts that protect special education students, that protect queer and transgender students, that protect Black students, Black teachers,” says Gates, whose members teach in the nation’s third-largest public school district. “Teachers must expect families to engage in dialog about how powerful we are together.”
Every parent “wants their children to be educated, to get the best education possible, in order for them to be self-sustaining citizens of our world, and that means that these parents want diverse learning environments,” she said. “These parents want their children to be taught a multi-dimensional history from the perspective of truth. They want a diverse teaching force. They want their children to be able to engage in a world that they’re trying to build.”
A department spokesperson said, “Schools should focus on merit-based education and equal opportunity rather than divisive ideological frameworks. Federal funding should not support programs that promote exclusion under the guise of inclusivity.”
The threat to withdraw funding draws sharp criticism from education advocacy groups. Opponents of the policy fear that revoking funding from schools that prioritize diversity efforts could disproportionately impact marginalized student populations.
“Taxpayer dollars should fund education, not indoctrination,” said Senator Mark Reynolds (R-TX), who has long advocated for restrictions on DEI funding in public institutions. “Students should be taught based on merit and hard work, not identity politics.”
In the Courts, in Media, and on the Streets
Logically and legally, these threats are empty. There is simply no authority or basis to impose this mandate. In fact, federal laws, including ESSA, prohibit ANY president from telling schools and colleges what to teach. That said, there will be real-world effects: we know that Trump has been ignoring court orders and that schools and colleges are already moving to comply. There is also a “chilling effect” on what gets taught, which is the real goal of every oligarch in history.
Public schools and colleges are foundational to opportunity and dignity for everyone who steps inside our classes. That’s who we are as educators and researchers—and it’s unfortunate the Trump administration would pretend otherwise. This letter not only unfairly tarnishes educators, it makes it harder to do our jobs.
“We know that parents and educators want our students to thrive, not become cannon fodder for the latest culture war,” Ingram says. “This attack on children is wrong, and we are fighting back in the courts, in the court of public opinion, and in the streets.”
“The answer to Trump’s chaos is organization. As a union man, I understand and preach the gospel of collective power, so we must unify and move with purpose. It’s easy to be outraged, but channeling that rage into action is what makes the difference.”
