The Oregon Department of Education will not capitulate to Trump demands to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, state leaders said in a letter to officials

By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Department of Education will not end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to fit the Trump administration’s interpretation of federal civil rights law, Gov. Tina Kotek and the state’s education director announced Thursday.

“Since the start of the new federal administration, I promised Oregonians that I would not back down from a fight when it comes to safeguarding Oregon values,” Kotek said. “Making sure every child has the opportunity to meet their future promise with a strong public education is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of government and one of my top priorities as governor.”

The U.S. Department of Education gave state education officials around the country an ultimatum in an April 3 letter: End programs supporting “certain DEI practices” and “illegal DEI,” or lose millions in federal Title I funding that has benefitted students from low-income families for more than 60 years.

State officials were given 10 days to agree to the conditions, and the agency’s decision that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives violate nondiscrimination requirements for receiving federal money under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The deadline to respond has now been extended to April 24 under an agreement between the department and several groups suing federal education officials over the directive.

Oregon’s director of education, Charlene Williams, wrote to federal officials Thursday that the state’s Department of Education would not sign the confirmation letter or require schools to cut programs and initiatives aimed at bolstering diversity, equity and inclusion. She joins Washington’s education director, who announced Wednesday he would not agree to the federal ultimatum.

In her letter, Williams enumerated the recent approvals Oregon received from the U.S. Department of Education for complying with federal civil rights law — approvals needed in order to receive Every Student Succeeds Act funding and funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — and that would likely be used to defend the state and its entitlement to Title I funds in court.

The U.S. Department of Education is currently embroiled in several lawsuits brought by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, two of the country’s largest teachers’ unions, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, over its civil rights directives and funding threats aimed at schools.

“Oregon has implemented and continues to implement education programs in accordance with state and federal law,” Williams wrote. “Oregon remains fiercely committed to its values of diversity, equity and inclusion, and we celebrate our differences and common humanity. Our moral and ethical obligation is to stand up for public education.”

About 10% to 14% of Oregon’s annual public education budget typically comes from the federal government. Title I funds — about $134 million — make up nearly 20% of what the state gets from the feds.

Title I funds support programs in about 40% of Oregon schools, serving more than 200,000 students from low-income families, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics and from the Oregon Department of Education.

Kotek said in a news release Thursday that she directed the state’s education department to “hold the line” against the administration’s ultimatum.

“We will not tolerate this unwarranted and unlawful attempt to take away resources promised to Oregon students and paid for by the tax dollars we send to the federal government,” Kotek said.

Williams in her letter to federal officials said the U.S. Department of Education is unlawfully changing the terms and conditions of funding already awarded to Oregon, without formal rulemaking procedures and has failed to define the very programs that officials are trying to regulate.

“There are no federal or state laws prohibiting diversity, equity, or inclusion,” Williams wrote in her response.

Lastly, the request for certification violates the federal Paperwork Reduction Act, Williams said. If federal officials request information from thousands of state and local education agencies they must first, under that law, post a notice to the Federal Register and seek public comment.

Williams criticized federal officials’ willingness to withhold funding already promised to public schools and to students with the highest needs.

“There is no circumstance where it is okay to leverage children’s resources as a political tool,” she wrote in her letter to them.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, three Oregon House Republicans — Reps. Dwayne Yunker of Grants Pass, Darin Harbick of Rainbow and Ed Diehl of Stayton — requested U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon launch a federal investigation into Oregon’s Department of Education into what they said are discriminatory education programs in the state, including the Oregon Teacher Scholars Program and the Educator Equity Act. Those programs offer scholarships for teachers-in-training who are culturally or linguistically diverse, and set goals and standards for boosting teacher diversity in the state.

Alex Baumhardt has been a national radio producer focusing on education for American Public Media since 2017. She has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media, and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post.