Trump Moves to Kill DEI
There鈥檚 an innate tension between school safety and students鈥� civil rights. 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber keeps you up to date on the news you need to know
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With America鈥檚 public education system on the chopping block of billionaire Elon Musk鈥檚 quasi-government DOGE, this week鈥檚 School (in)Security newsletter zeros in on the most recent barrage of White House orders that carry major civil rights implications for students.
Up first: An order for schools to kill diversity, equity and inclusion 鈥� or else.
Schools and universities were given 14 days to end diversity initiatives or risk losing federal funding. But the order鈥檚 vague language, civil rights advocates argue, could have a chilling effect and encourage schools to eliminate everything related to race. |
- Suggesting statewide resistance to the DEI order, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey responded by saying 鈥渨e are going to stay true to who we are in Massachusetts.鈥� |
- Michigan state Superintendent Michael Rice said a review of Trump鈥檚 letter 鈥渨ill take time,鈥� but as of now, the state education department 鈥渃ontinues to support diversity in literature, comprehensive history instruction and broad recruitment to Grow Your Own programs for students and support staff to become teachers.鈥� |
- Meanwhile, in Louisiana, state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley endorsed Trump鈥檚 DEI directive, noting in a letter this week that his department is working to 鈥渟top inherently divisive concepts, like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), from infiltrating Louisiana鈥檚 K-12 public education system.鈥� |
- Trump鈥檚 order applies a broad interpretation of a recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions and could be leveraged to restrict content taught in classrooms. |
- My colleague Linda Jacobson reported this week on the Education Department鈥檚 abrupt decision to terminate $600 million in teacher training grants, many specifically designed to recruit future educators of color, who are underrepresented in the classroom. | 蜜桃影视
- After PBS scrubbed a video series on LGBTQ history in response to Trump鈥檚 DEI orders, the content has a new home: the New York City school district鈥檚 website. |
- A new lawsuit by college professors and diversity professionals alleges the order is unconstitutional. 鈥淚n the United States, there is no king,鈥� they write in their complaint. 鈥淚n his crusade to erase diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility from our country, President Trump cannot usurp Congress鈥檚 exclusive power of the purse, nor can he silence those who disagree with him by threatening them with the loss of federal funds and other enforcement actions.鈥� |
- A coalition of civil rights groups filed suit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, arguing the DEI order infringed on their free speech rights. NAACP Legal Defense Fund President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson said that 鈥渂eyond spreading inaccurate, dehumanizing and divisive rhetoric,鈥� Trump鈥檚 orders tie the hands of organizations that are 鈥減roviding critical services to people who need them most.鈥� |
More from Washington: Trump鈥檚 executive order to end birthright citizenship for children whose parents are undocumented or on work visas remains blocked after an appeals court declined to reinstate it 鈥� and paved the way for a potential battle in the Supreme Court. |
- A majority of Amerians in a recent poll opposed ending birthright citizenship and another Trump order allowing immigration agents to make arrests in churches, schools and other sensitive locations once considered off limits. |
Two federal courts have blocked a Trump executive order that sought to restrict transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care, with a Washington judge writing the directive violated the Constitution鈥檚 Equal Protection Clause and disregarded Congress. |
鈥業t looks like a zoo鈥�: Children are among the nearly 100 migrants who were recently deported from the U.S. to Panama and placed in a detention camp with 鈥渇enced cages鈥� on the outskirts of the jungle. |
Trump issued an order on Thursday to end 鈥渁ll taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens.鈥� But undocumented immigrants generally don鈥檛 qualify for federal benefits with one major exception: In 1982, the Supreme Court found that all children, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to a free K-12 education. |
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More in the news
A judge has ordered the Milwaukee school district to station police officers on campuses within 10 days or face sanctions. Amid a dispute over school police funding, the district has not complied for more than a year with a state law that mandates police in schools. |
School police in Texas have opened an investigation into the suicide death of an 11-year-old girl after her mother said the middle school student suffered pervasive bullying from classmates who claimed her family was in the country illegally and threatened to have them deported. |
Sandy Hook Promise was credited with helping to thwart an 18-year-old Indiana student鈥檚 plot to commit a mass school shooting on Valentine鈥檚 Day. Police reports note a tipster to the nonprofit鈥檚 anonymous reporting system said 鈥渢heir friend has access to an AR15 and has just ordered a bulletproof vest.鈥� |
Missouri public schools would be required to develop cardiac emergency response plans and equip campuses with automated external defibrillators under bipartisan legislation. |
Fewer than half of Texas school districts are in compliance with a 2023 law requiring armed security at every campus. |
Graduates of a Kent, Connecticut, boarding school have sued the institution on allegations its former IT administrator accessed financial records, medical information, photos and videos from hundreds of former students and employees. 鈥淭here are potentially many hundreds of former Kent School students and employees who are victims of [the school official鈥檚] personal invasion and sexual exploitation,鈥� the complaint alleges. |
Kept in the Dark
For a recent investigation for 蜜桃影视 and Wired, I fell down a dark web rabbit hole and chronicled more than 300 school cyberattacks in the last five years 鈥� and revealed the degree to which school leaders in virtually every state repeatedly provide false assurances to students, parents and staff about the security of their sensitive information.
This week, I highlighted my investigation into a ransomware attack on the Minneapolis school district 鈥� an 鈥渆ncryption event,鈥� according to school officials 鈥� which led to the widespread exposure of students鈥� sensitive data. What the district told the public and the FBI, documents I obtained through public records requests show, differed drastically.
ICYMI @The74
Emotional support
If Kathy Moore鈥檚 pup Sinead knows one thing, it鈥檚 how to build a good fort to ride out these cold winter days.
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