Ironically, the announcement comes as the administration is aggressively inserting itself in state and local education decision-making through a little-known administrative process. 

A General Services Administration that would require almost all applicants for federal funds to certify compliance with federal laws, executive orders and regulations — including non-discrimination laws — would also mandate adherence to the administration’s interpretation of what is discriminatory. In doing so, the announcement suggests that the Trump administration is interested not just in enforcing the law, but in discouraging efforts to increase diversity in education and beyond. 

The document treats “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” initiatives as potentially discriminatory, including, for example, statements used by many employers to encourage applicants from various backgrounds. It rejects what the administration calls “cultural competence” requirements, potentially imperiling teaching practices that connect instruction to students’ backgrounds. And it would likely ban questions asking applicants to describe how they have overcome obstacles, as colleges are increasingly doing in the wake of the 2023 Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in admissions. States and school districts found in violation of the proposed requirements would be subject to funding reductions, civil liability or even criminal prosecution — stark consequences for refusing to conform to administration policy. 

The GSA’s proposal flies in the face of studies showing that teacher diversity benefits all students.

demonstrates that student and teacher diversity in schools and colleges helps Black, Hispanic and other traditionally underserved students achieve in school and beyond. As FutureEd noted in a , when students of color have teachers of color, attendance, academic achievement and college enrollment increase and disciplinary infractions decline. 

The research has an important bearing on the performance of the nation’s schools, given that students of color comprise more than 50% of public-school enrollment nationally, while nearly 80% of teachers in the country’s schools are white.

White students also benefit from having teachers of color. In a of four East Coast school districts, white students who studied under a teacher of color reported working harder and being more confident in their abilities than those who did not. Among the potential reasons for the greater engagement: Teachers of color were more likely to believe that student intelligence is malleable rather than fixed and to address student misbehavior in ways that didn’t damage classroom climate.

For their part, teachers value diversity in their ranks. In a national survey of K-12 teachers conducted for by the RAND Corp., 81% of participants said it is “important or extremely important” for students of color to be taught by teachers of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and 79% said it is “important or extremely important” to have colleagues of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Of course, subject matter expertise and effective teaching experience should be paramount in hiring decisions. And anyone who receives federal funds should comply with non-discrimination law. But the GSA announcement would put at risk diversity initiatives that are valuable in schools and would seemingly pass legal muster. 

It’s the latest administration move against diversity in education. Weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term, the Department of Education canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants awarded under the previous administration that had already been distributed and sought in part to increase educator diversity. 

Then, the department issued a that sought to eliminate DEI programs in school districts and institutions of higher education. It was subsequently struck down by the courts, and the department of Education dropped its appeal in January, only weeks before GSA’s proposal was released. This suggests that the administration is trying to achieve through administrative means what it failed to accomplish with last year’s letter. 

If the Trump administration wants to ensure appropriate enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in education, it has the tools to do so through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Unfortunately, the administration last year downsized OCR dramatically, leading a federal court to the reinstatement of hundreds of staffers so the agency could fulfill its duties. And staffing levels at the EEOC are down more than since the end of fiscal year .

The resulting cutback in civil rights enforcement under the Trump administration has been dramatic. As of December, OCR had , compared with 16,500 at the end of the Biden administration. 

Rather than staffing the federal government to enforce civil rights laws, the administration seems to be trying to weaken diversity efforts in schools by intimidating state and local educators with the threat of lost funding, criminal prosecution or civil liability into preemptively complying with its priorities, as it with its Dear Colleague Letter last year. 

But that tactic not only contradicts research on the value of educator diversity; it takes authority over teaching and learning out of the hands of the very leaders McMahon says she wants to empower. 

Education Secretary Linda McMahon withdrew the department’s appeal in a federal lawsuit that challenged warning schools against efforts to “preference certain racial groups.” 

In April, she asked states to agreeing to the administration’s view of non-discrimination laws or risk losing federal funds. In , Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher, a district judge for the District of Maryland, called both the letter and the certification requirement “substantively improper.” 

“The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints,” she wrote. “But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.”

Other litigation over the letter and the certification is ongoing.

The department’s tough anti-DEI stance drew a broad mix of reactions. Some Republican state education chiefs welcomed the letter, with Ryan Walters, former Oklahoma superintendent, posting a video of himself signing the form. Blue states refused to sign, while at the district level,  the actions largely sparked confusion over whether they could still hold events related to Black History Month or teach about racism. One Georgia school board and then reinstated it when the court blocked the letter.

The lawsuit, led by American Federation of Teachers, is one of four related to the letter or the threat to withhold funds. The National Education Association, 19 Democratic-led states and the NAACP also challenged the department’s actions. But the department didn’t initially fare well in court. On the same day in late April, Gallagher suspended the letter while two other federal judges blocked enforcement of the certification form.

“With the stroke of a pen, the administration tried to take a hatchet to 60 years of civil rights laws that were meant to create educational opportunity for all kids,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. “It took a union to stand in the stead of kids and educators who feared retribution from the government.”

The department did not respond to a request for comment, but its decision in the AFT case doesn’t put the issue to rest.

In the NEA case, the judge has not issued a final ruling, but an remains in place.  The department filed a motion to dismiss the NAACP case last summer, but the court has not yet ruled. The , meanwhile, is set for trial in June. 

While the department was unable to pressure schools through a “dear colleague” letter, it has continued to launch civil rights investigations into districts with diversity and equity initiatives, like Black Student Success Plan. 

Even some conservatives criticized the agency’s use of non-binding guidance to implement policy.

“There are good reasons to be concerned about the capricious use of dear colleague letters. Many of us have been warning about the problems for 15 years now, dating back to Obama’s first term,” said Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “Seeing the administration instead rely on the machinery of the Office for Civil Rights is probably a good thing, as that should ensure that this is less about federal diktats than about investigations into specific complaints.”

A published Wednesday from the National Council on Teacher Quality found that teacher preparation programs have contributed to the stagnant growth in educator diversity, which is lagging behind the diversity of the nation’s adult population. While roughly of U.S. working-age adults identify with historically disadvantaged racial groups, such as Black, Native American or Hispanic, only 21% of teachers do.

The NCTQ analyzed 1,526 U.S. teacher colleges from the 2018-19 school year to 2022-23 in its report and found that 40% don’t produce graduating classes that are as diverse as their state’s educator workforce. 

About 21% of teachers in Alabama come from historically disadvantaged groups, versus 16% of candidates who graduate from preparation programs. In Washington, D.C., the educator workforce has a 69% diversity rate, but its teacher college graduates are at 32%. 

The most diverse programs are alternative certification pathways run by companies or nonprofits, but research shows that these options have lower standards than traditional colleges and lead to higher teacher turnover.

A diverse teacher workforce at schools improves academic performance, attendance, discipline and sense of belonging for students of color, according to the study. For example, who have one Black teacher are 13% more likely to graduate from high school and 19% more likely to go to college than their peers who didn’t have a teacher of color.

Too many teacher colleges are failing to produce diverse graduating classes and causing students to lose out, said Heather Peske, NCTQ president. 

“We know that a diverse teacher workforce benefits all students, and it especially benefits Black and brown students,” she said. “There’s a lot that we can do right now — on the part of teacher prep programs and states — to reduce the obstacles that particularly discourage Black and brown candidates from coming into the profession and becoming teachers.”

The NCTQ report has three recommendations for state policymakers, schools and teacher colleges to increase workforce diversity: bolstering program enrollment by increasing teacher salaries, providing college stipends and introducing younger students to the education field. 

The report said teacher candidates also need more support to earn their certification, such as flexible course schedules and pay for completing required hours in the classroom before graduation. Districts should also improve hiring practices by developing strategies to recruit more school leaders of color, providing mentors to new teachers and improving work culture so educators from historically disadvantaged groups feel welcome, according to the report. 

Teacher preparation programs that have been the target of the federal government this year. In February, the Trump administration canceled millions of dollars in teacher training funding, a decision that’s still wrapped up in .

Peske said many of the NCTQ recommendations are race-neutral and can help all teacher candidates while improving workforce diversity. 

“We really need to focus on the fact that having a diverse teacher workforce means having a high-quality teacher workforce and thinking of practices that can support those goals,” she said.

The department said it will reinstate roughly 25 employees Sept. 8, nearly three months after a federal judge told the department to start the process, and will return another 60 every two weeks until early November. 

The plan comes after the Massachusetts district court judge to throw out a June 18 order requiring the department to put the employees back to work. Department officials are now appealing that ruling.

Sean Ouellette, who represents the families and advocates who sued over the firings at OCR, said he was pleased to see “a commitment” from the department.

“I hope they restore staff on the schedule they laid out, or hopefully faster. We’re not really sure it should take that long,” said Ouellette, a senior attorney with Public Justice. “We’re a little skeptical because this only comes after the court called them out on the delay.”

In another personnel development, the department will begin reinstating employees in late January because their positions were linked, sometimes tenuously, to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs. Many of those targeted were told by their supervisors during the first Trump administration to attend a DEI training. The American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents the department staff, filed for arbitration — a dispute resolution process — rather than bringing a lawsuit.

“Because our local refused to stand down, we have learned that a number of our members placed on DEI leave are being returned to duty,” Sheria Smith, president of Local 252, wrote to employees Tuesday. 

But Madi Biedermann, a spokeswoman for the department, disputed that arbitration played a role in the decision.

“The agency determined they are an asset to the workforce,” she said.

The action could slow down progress toward President Donald Trump’s pledge to dismantle the Education Department and eliminate any DEI-related activity — central pieces of his agenda that the public doesn’t necessarily support, according to recent PDK Poll results.��

McMahon fired roughly half its OCR staff members March 11 along with over 1,000 other employees. The Victims Rights Law Center, which represents victims of sexual assault, argued that their dismissal in combination with the closure of seven out of 12 regional offices, left the office unable to perform duties mandated by law. 

The department tried to link the OCR firings to a in which the Supreme Court allowed McMahon to let staff go from other divisions within the agency. In both cases, the courts have yet to issue a final decision on whether the firings were legal. Judge agreed with Public Justice, saying that the OCR case presented “distinct factual circumstances,” and “cannot be lumped in with” the other lawsuit. 

The department disagrees. “At bottom, plaintiffs’ lawsuit is an improper programmatic attack on how the department runs OCR,” wrote Michael Bruns, an attorney with the Justice Department.��In the appeal to the U.S. Appeals Court for the First Circuit, he called the lawsuit “crafty pleading.”

For now, however, Joun’s opinion leaves the department with no further options but to bring back the staff. 

OCR, not surprisingly, hasn’t been able to move through cases as quickly as it did prior to the layoffs. Since March 11, the office has resolved 413 complaints, compared to about 200 per month previously, Steven Schaefer, deputy assistant secretary for policy at OCR, wrote in a filing to the court.  

Ouellette, the Public Justice attorney, said having more attorneys and investigators back to work should help OCR make progress on the backlog.

“At least that will get things back to the way they were, which was already strained,” he said.

‘Called back’

Union officials haven’t received any communication from the department specifying which employees are returning or when they will start work, said spokesman Andrew Feldman. But the department did tell some to report to the cafeteria on Monday for a “brief orientation,” according to a notice to employees shared with ����Ӱ��.

“We have members who have self-reported to us they have been called back,” Feldman said.

One of those is Kissy Chapman-Thaw, an education program specialist and former teacher. She learned secondhand that she would be among those returning Sept. 8, which she said the department’s IT help desk confirmed Wednesday. 

She oversaw budgeting and higher education grants, including COVID relief funds, but she attended the three-day DEI training in 2019, which she thinks likely contributed to her dismissal.   

“For me, as an African American woman, I felt not just educated, but I understood how to be more sensitive to other people in general,” she said. She refused to quit while her job was in limbo. “After a month, I was like, I’m not going anywhere. They’ve got to fire me. I’m just not going to walk away that easily.”

During Gayathri Ramkumar’s favorite lesson — a sort of mathematical guessing game — she’ll hear her students asking their partners things like, “Can you tell me the degree of the polynomial?”

Not only does the back-and-forth get the high-schoolers talking precisely about mathematical problems, but it helps English learners boost their language skills without forcing them to talk in front of the whole class.

Ramkumar is a math and computer science teacher at Aurora Central High School, one of Colorado’s most diverse schools, where about half of the students are learning English.

She is also one of named a semifinalist for the state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award. The winner will be announced in October.

Ramkumar talked to Chalkbeat about why she switched careers, how she incorporates educational influences from India and America into her lessons, and what advice she gives to college-bound students.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?

My journey into teaching wasn’t one of those stories where I always knew I wanted to be an educator. In fact, 25 years ago, fresh out of high school, I never would have imagined myself in a classroom. It was only after stepping away from engineering work to raise my kids that I unexpectedly discovered a love for teaching. Teaching them reading and math before they started school wasn’t just a responsibility; it became something I genuinely enjoyed. That experience sparked a passion in me, one I hadn’t realized was there, and it ultimately led me down the path to becoming a licensed teacher.

How did your own experience in school influence your approach to teaching?

I completed both my high school and bachelor’s degree in India, where the teaching style was very traditional. From an early age, I was used to taking extensive notes and doing a large volume of homework. Teaching in the U.S. has given me the opportunity to reflect on and compare both educational systems. I strive to integrate the best aspects of each into my own teaching approach. For example, when planning a math lesson, I draw inspiration from problem-based U.S. curricula such as Illustrative Mathematics and Desmos, which I’ve come to truly appreciate and enjoy. At the same time, I firmly believe in the value of practice, and I incorporate worksheets that I’ve found effective from my own experience as a math student in India.

Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach.

As a concurrent enrollment math teacher at the high school level, I strive to maintain the academic rigor of college-level math while also making it accessible, engaging, and developmentally appropriate for high school students. I always try to create lessons where students are engaging in content through exploration, discovery, and collaboration long before formal definitions or procedures are introduced.

One such lesson, adapted from Illustrative Math, was called “Info Gap.” The format supports precise mathematical communication and problem-solving. The lesson’s purpose was for students to put together what they have learned about sketching graphs of polynomials in factored form and factoring polynomials using division. Students worked in pairs, each receiving one of two card types. One student had the problem card with the problem that needed to be solved but lacked certain key details, such as its degree, intercepts, or end behavior. The other student held the data card containing the missing data, but they were not allowed to simply hand over the answers. Instead, the student with the problem card had to ask thoughtful, specific questions and explain their reasoning for needing that information to solve the problem.

One of the most powerful outcomes was the lesson’s support for multilingual learners. In whole-class settings, these students often hesitate to participate due to limited confidence with academic English. However, they had the chance to use vocabulary like “zeros,” “multiplicity,” and “degree” in a low-pressure context. This dialogue supported both math learning and language development.

There was not a dull moment in the classroom. Students were engaged in meaningful dialogue, constructing knowledge collectively, and supporting each other’s understanding. It was a moment that reaffirmed my belief in student-centered learning.

You help guide first-generation students through the college application process. What is your most important piece of advice for them?

I always encourage my students to take full advantage of by applying to all in-state public universities, even if they’re planning to go out of state. Plans can change unexpectedly, and having solid backup options can reduce stress later on. I also advise them to answer every question on the college application thoroughly, including those marked optional.

Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.

One memorable moment that really shifted my perspective was when I received a message from my student’s mother after I was selected as a semifinalist for Teacher of the Year. She congratulated me warmly and said she was proud to see someone from the immigrant community being recognized. She also told me she would be sharing the news in parent group chats to celebrate the accomplishment.

That message meant a great deal to me. It reminded me that the work I do doesn’t go unnoticed. It helped me realize that beyond academics, I’m serving as a role model and a source of representation for families in our school community. It was a humbling moment that gave me a deeper sense of purpose and a renewed commitment to advocacy, especially for students and families who may not always feel seen or heard.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on in your classroom?

One thing that deeply influences my classroom is the current political climate and the emotional toll it takes on our community, especially immigrant families and first-generation college students. Many of my students are navigating fear, financial instability, and uncertainty about their futures, all while trying to succeed academically. These pressures create setbacks in the classroom, but not because of a lack of ability or motivation.

As an educator, my role extends beyond academics. I advocate for my students by helping connect them with school counselors, former students, and college access programs. I collaborate with families to ensure they feel informed and supported. I also offer extra academic support through flexible office hours, tutoring sessions, and culturally responsive teaching strategies that validate students’ identities. My ultimate goal is to help students not just survive, but thrive, and to remind them that college and long-term success are within their reach, even when the path feels uncertain.

What was your biggest misconception that you initially brought to teaching?

When I first started my licensure process, I didn’t realize how much advocacy teachers do for their students, their colleagues, and the community in general. Teachers are constantly and relentlessly advocating for better and equitable school policies and systemic structure in addition to teaching the content that they are actually hired for.

What are you reading for enjoyment?

I enjoy reading historical fiction books, specifically by Ken Follett. Recently, I have been enjoying fantasy fiction.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

In sunny San Diego, opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are steering the city’s economic growth more than ever before — presenting a future bright with possibilities.

Yet too many students are missing out on opportunities to access the STEM careers that advance the region’s prosperity. 

According to , 65% of low-income jobs in San Diego are “predominantly held by people of color.” In the technology, biotech and clean tech sectors, Hispanic and Latino communities are underrepresented, despite the projection that they will constitute nearly half of San Diego County’s future workforce. At the same time, talent scarcity has become a new normal in San Diego.

But we can reverse those trends by investing in cross-sector partnerships and community-driven collaborations to help students access more opportunities in STEM fields.

That’s why we launched the , which involves a wide range of community partners working to guide more than 100,000 students toward well-paying STEM careers in San Diegos high-impact industries. This bold ambition reflects a statewide opportunity to align local innovation with California’s broader economic and impact goals.

To bring everyone together, we engaged different industries through a collaborative design process that ultimately laid the groundwork for our efforts in the region. A  representing early childhood education, K-12, postsecondary, workforce development, community-based organizations, and philanthropy reflected on why prior collaborations failed and identified some key factors missing. 

To achieve our shared vision of building STEM pathways rooted in community co-design and shaped by the innovation and talent already present in the region, connection, trust and co-creation are essential. Our goal is to build upon existing efforts by fostering alignment across systems, thereby expanding access to opportunities for all students. Achieving meaningful collaboration also requires creating an environment where participants can openly address challenges.

The cross-sector team devoted months to listening, learning and documenting insights. Key emerging themes included the need for: 

• Clear communication and a deep understanding of partners’ motivations and aspirations.
• Aligning efforts through early and ongoing conversations with community members, students, industry leaders and local partners to co-design well-rounded STEM pathways.��

With support from Digital Promise through dedicated staff to help facilitate the advisory committee and track progress, we have created space to foster relationships and trust. (Digital Promise is a global nonprofit that works with educators, researchers, technology leaders, and communities to design, investigate, and scale up innovations that empower learners.)

Building trust involves planning, consistency and taking actions that contribute to a larger goal. Demonstrating a long-term vision through smaller, incremental actions helps maintain momentum. Given that our advisers are high-level executives, flexibility and a collaborative space where their contributions are valued and not burdensome are crucial for their input to flourish. This requires ongoing nurturing, especially as we move toward a collective regional collaboration. 

When communities feel seen, heard and valued, they become co-architects of change. They readily contribute when we engage with them on their terms and at their capacity, rather than expecting them to adapt to our requirements. By accommodating their needs and meeting them where they are — whether they are ready to collaborate, learn, stay informed, or actively participate — we uplift collaborators to become co-creators of change and engage at their desired level. 

That’s how we’re building durable systems that truly reflect and serve the needs of all learners across the state of California. 

Advisory members began developing their solution concept ideas earlier this year and are now moving toward launching a mini-pilot. Their innovative, community-driven concepts include: 

• An effort to support preschool and elementary educators with real-world training that inspires young students in math and science and sets them on a path toward future success through partnerships with local colleges, experts and community partners.
• A program that will work closely with students and families — especially those experiencing housing insecurity — to expand access to STEM through after-school activities, college visits and campus stays that build excitement and readiness for higher education.
• A South Bay initiative that helps students grow their interest and confidence in STEM from middle school through college by combining hands-on learning, career exploration and local partnerships to prepare them for real-world success.
• An easy-to-use online hub where families, educators and partners can find local STEM programs, support services, and ways to work together to create opportunities for all students.

“,” a new report produced by the initiative, provides additional information about each of the concept ideas. 

As this work continues to gain momentum, the path forward demands deeper engagement with those most impacted — parents, community members and local leaders. But authentic collaboration doesn’t begin with action plans; it begins with trust. As we continue to deepen our partnership, we are constantly reminded that investing in trust-building isn’t a detour from progress; it is progress.

This story was originally published on EdSource.

Adding to the legal challenges over the U.S. Department of Education’s efforts to rid schools of DEI, 19 Democrat-led states sued Friday over an April 3 “dear colleague” letter.  

The threat to withhold funding if states don’t sign what the complaint calls “a novel and unlawful certification” would be “catastrophic for plaintiff states’ students from kindergarten through high school,” the attorneys general wrote.

Collectively, the Democrat-led states stand to lose almost $14 billion, including Title I money for low-income schools and funds for students with disabilities. The complaint asks a federal district court in Massachusetts to declare the April 3 letter unlawful and prevent the department from taking any action based on its interpretation of anti-discrimination laws and the Supreme Court decision that ended racial preferences in college admissions.

States and school districts resisting a U.S. Department of Education ultimatum regarding diversity, equity and inclusion got a temporary reprieve Thursday. Two federal judges — one in and another in the — blocked the department’s ability to withhold federal funding from those that didn’t to its interpretation of non-discrimination laws or agree to end what officials called “impermissible” DEI programs.

A third judge in suspended for now a Feb. 14 “” letter warning districts against racial diversity efforts. The deadline to sign a form certifying compliance was Thursday.

States and districts are “no longer under the immediate threat” of losing funds if they “continue to offer long-standing lawful programs or don’t sign” the form, said Katrina Feldkamp, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. Representing the NAACP, the law firm is among several groups, including unions, school districts and advocacy groups, involved in three separate lawsuits over the department’s anti-DEI guidance. 

In a statement, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers — part of the Maryland case — called the court’s ruling “a huge win for students, families and educators.” 

The department’s follow-up on Feb. 28 appeared to soften officials’ stance on practices it considers illegal, saying cultural and historical observances were acceptable as long as all students were welcome to participate. But the certification requirement took a firm tone, cautioning states that they could face substantial financial penalties if they sign it and are then found to be in violation. 

“The court finds that threatening penalties under those legal provisions without sufficiently defining the conduct that might trigger liability violates the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition on vagueness,” Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said in her oral ruling granting a preliminary injunction. The department’s documents, she said, “placed a particular emphasis on certain DEI practices without providing an actual definition of what constitutes DEI or DEI practice.”

At the time of publication 12 states, including Arizona, Arkansas and Montana, and the District of Columbia, had signed the certification. Twenty-two, including California, Michigan and New Mexico, declined to sign, and 17 either hadn’t announced their decision or did not respond to calls or emails from ����Ӱ��. Madi Biedermann, spokeswoman for the Education Department, said she didn’t know if officials would share the full count of states complying. She didn’t respond to a request for comment on the court rulings. 

Signing the form indicates compliance with Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin, as well as the department’s view of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against racial preferences in higher education admissions. 

State chiefs who didn’t sign argued that the Education Department didn’t clearly define DEI and ignored proper procedures for collecting such information. Overall, the documents have left leaders bewildered over whether they stand to lose millions in federal funds. In Denver Public Schools, for example, roughly $36 million in Title I funds for high-poverty schools and another $20 million for special education services are at stake. Like state chiefs in several other blue states, Colorado’s Susana Córdova to sign the document. 

“I think all districts across the country are forced to grapple with this question of ‘What would you do without it?’ ” said Chuck Carpenter, chief financial officer.

Title I funds in his district, Colorado’s largest, cover salaries for school social workers, help to reduce class sizes and support interventions for students who are behind academically. 

“These are very much on-the-ground expenses,” he said. “This doesn’t get caught up in the bureaucracy. This is for real kids and real people.”

Several GOP state chiefs welcomed the department’s message. Arizona state Superintendent Tom Horne , “Thank you for fighting for our Constitution and laws!” along with his signature. Oklahoma chief Ryan Walters posted of himself at his desk signing the form. 

“No DEI in Oklahoma schools,” he said. “We will talk about merit and American exceptionalism, and we’ll have the best school system possible, thanks to President Trump.”

While some state and district leaders likely viewed the form as a “box to check,” others may see it as “provocation,” said Jackie Wernz, a civil rights attorney and consultant who worked in both the Obama and first Trump administrations.

“The department’s shifting guidance in recent months has created a lot of confusion in the field,” she said. “It’s not always clear whether this is a legal compliance issue or a political messaging moment.”

Even some critics of DEI agree. Steven Wilson, a senior fellow at the free market-oriented Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research in Boston, argues that many schools, including high-performing charter networks, went astray by embracing anti-racist teaching approaches. 

He pointed, for example, to author that “worship of the written word” is evidence of white supremacy and framing around social justice issues. 

“These teachings are enormously destructive,” said Wilson, who founded the Ascend charter school network in Brooklyn, New York. “I would be hard pressed to think of a more damaging message to impart to teachers of Black and brown children than that the worship of the written word is whiteness.” 

But Wilson views the department’s threat to federal funding as equally harmful. “The audacity” of tying the compliance form to funding for programs that serve students in poverty and those with disabilities, he said “has to be vigorously contested.” 

‘Historically underserved’

Title I, the biggest federal education program, totals over $18 billion. Part of the 1960s War on Poverty, it has “really been a cornerstone of federal funding in K-12 for the better part of a century,” said Jess Gartner, founder of Allovue, a school finance technology company that’s now part of PowerSchool. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, currently funded at $15 billion, came a decade later in 1975. 

Officials can’t withhold those funds with “a wave of the hand and a strike of the pen” or because “someone won’t sign a form,” Gartner said. “There is for reporting, investigating and determining that discrimination has actually occurred.” 

In 2023, under former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the department withheld federal funds from Maine for not meeting state testing requirements. But that was after two years of being out of compliance, and officials the state could reserve for administrative costs — not the money that goes to schools.

The Trump administration has demonstrated that it will abruptly cancel funding that has already been approved by Congress. That’s why finance officers like Carpenter in Denver are on edge about how the department will respond to states that didn’t sign the form. 

Title I funding supports about half of the Denver district’s 207 schools, where immigrant and non-English-speaking parents especially rely on liaisons like Boni Sanchez Florez. He helps them access after-school classes, mental health services and low-cost internet. But  Florez also encourages them to take leadership roles and speak up about issues that affect their children, like .

“It’s hard enough for them to walk in a building with a staff that is predominantly 80% white. How do you build that trust in a community that doesn’t trust the system?” asked Florez, who moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. “If I’m in my dad’s shoes 30 years ago, I would want people to reach out to me.”

Nearby in Jeffco Public Schools, Colorado’s second largest district, roughly 100 staff members are directly paid with Title I funds, said Tara Peña, chief of family partnerships and community engagement. They include three “family ambassadors” who work out of a mobile welcome center — a customized bus that hosts enrollment fairs, book giveaways and what Peña called “goodwill events.”

The welcome center staff signs families up for Medicaid or free lunch programs and teams up with other community groups to distribute school and hygiene supplies.

“A loss in federal funding would be very destructive and be very impactful to the supports and the services that we provide to our most vulnerable students,” Peña said. “The students who’ve been historically underserved would continue to be the ones that would be harmed.” 

‘Four years?’

The potential cuts to funding also come as districts across the country are finalizing their budgets for the upcoming school year, with federal funds in mind. Before McMahon announced the certification requirement on April 3, most had already issued contracts for staff for this fall. 

In California, which receives over $2 billion in Title I funds and almost $1.6 billion from IDEA, the deadline to issue any layoff notices was March 15. 

That means districts would still be obligated to pay employees whose salaries come from those sources “whether they get funding or don’t,” said Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a state agency responsible for financial oversight of districts. “Districts did not contemplate such a loss before the March 15 layoff window.”

Districts in Michigan, another state that declined to sign the form, are in the same predicament. For now, the Detroit Public Schools Community District — where roughly 25% of the budget comes from federal sources — has committed to not letting any employees go. But Jeremy Vidito, chief financial officer, said that could just be a temporary solution if the department fully cuts Title I. 

“Maybe we can bridge two years with our fund balance. But four years? There’s no way,” he said. “It will mean school closures. It will mean reduced services for our kids and walking back the intervention programs.”

With a student poverty rate of  more than 80%, the nearly $125 million Detroit receives in Title I funding pays for counselors, social workers, and art and music teachers, as well as  high school administrators who are focused on keeping ninth graders on track for graduation. 

For LaQuitta Brown’s son Kermari, a 7 year old with autism, art has been especially important. He struggled to speak until last year, but he could communicate with his mother by drawing pictures, Brown said. Through special education, he receives speech and occupational therapy. His mother also depends on a mobile vision screening program for his checkups.

“He wouldn’t be where he would be without those services,” she said. “It takes a village, especially when you have a child needing special attention.”

Title I also supports high-dosage tutoring in Detroit, one of the reasons, Vidito said, why the district outperformed most other large, urban systems in a from researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities. Last school year, the district also saw in reading than the state as a whole.

“We are seeing results,” he said. “We have committed to educating all kids, but if we start to defund education, then we’re stepping back from that commitment.”

Most right-leaning think tanks, like the Heritage Foundation, welcome the department’s certification requirement and its interpretation of the decision. 

That opinion didn’t mention K-12 schools, but it has “broad implications for the use of racial preferences in public education services at the K-12 and postsecondary levels,” said Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “The majority opinion and supporting opinions deal with rooting out racism writ large from education.” 

But Wilson at the Pioneer Institute said the AFT lawsuit is “one of those relatively rare moments” of agreement he has with AFT President Randi Weingarten. She said the anti-DEI directives would hamper schools’ efforts to teach accurate history, including the harms of slavery and persecution of minority groups. 

“If that is what [the department] has in mind as a federal prohibition, that would be devastating.” he said. Trump, is “claiming, rather flamboyantly, to devolve education back to the states while announcing this unprecedented intrusion into what schools and districts may teach.”

����Ӱ��’s Mark Keierleber contributed to this story.

This statement is not about racial preference, or any so-called “woke” priorities. It’s about improving learning outcomes for all children. And right now, with public schools divided among  even more than they have been since the Civil Rights era, those who claim to care about Black children’s success in school should care whether those students see themselves reflected in those teaching them. 

the power of Black teachers and culturally responsive learning environments. They contribute to higher achievement, increased critical thinking skills, and better preparation for a global workforce. By contrast, eliminating these efforts ensures that future generations, especially Black and Latino students, face even greater barriers to success.

Ronald Reagan understood this. Reagan, the GOP’s lionized conservative icon, encouraged our country to put more Black teachers in our classrooms. 

In 1987, Reagan issued  recognizing the significant contributions of Black teachers within American society. It urged citizens to honor Black educators and acknowledge the historical challenges they’d surmounted. 

The proclamation states: “So that America continues to remain a land of opportunity for all people… we should encourage a wide representation of African Americans as teachers and continued concern for African American students.” 

Reagan, the classic “America First” president, cared enough about our country’s future to emphasize the need for Black educators. But in today’s GOP, which has embraced racial polarization and denies the need for any race-based initiatives, Reagan would be derided and booted out.  

Today, Ronald Reagan would be labeled “woke” (although others had more  for him) by the Trump administration and his followers.��

The divergence between these two Republican presidents highlights how far half of the body politic has moved in just under four decades. We are moving socially and politically backwards at a time when our country is becoming increasingly more . 

The recent executive orders, veiled as an attempt to reduce government spending, and applied on Trump’s first day in office before any real due diligence on expenditures could be accounted for, set sights on . 

While federal dollars account for about  to public schools, public schools are an easy political target. Weaponizing racial equity initiatives that support students — such as actively recruiting more Black teachers — helps score cheap political points. The effect on students is of no concern to those now in control.

Historically, Republican leaders, even if reluctantly, recognized that investing in education and ensuring access for all Americans, including Black students, was crucial for national prosperity. 

The Republican party of Reagan’s era somewhat embraced the contributions of Black educators and the essential importance of education for Black Americans to succeed. Today it has been declared that to “Make America Great Again,” we must erase all mention of race from public discourse in the name of parity while  to remove inconvenient and painful realities. 

Reagan’s public acknowledgment of the need for Black educators and inclusive learning environments reflects at least a basic understanding that when diverse talent flourishes, so does the nation and its economy. This appears to elude current Republican leadership.

We have to ask: What does the Republican party lose by having a diversified workforce? An increased number of Black teachers? More educated Black students? What could be gained if we did have all three?

As their anti-woke fever dreams come to life, they are destroying the very tools that could make America stronger, more competitive, more prosperous – and actually great.

The Republican party of Reagan’s era paid lip service to the idea that Black achievement was part of America’s success. The Republican party of Trump, however, seems determined to move the country closer to a dangerous precipice by erasing that idea altogether.

But the result was something else.

Parents bombarded the dedicated email address with off-topic rants on issues from kids using outdated textbooks to districts that failed to pay for special education evaluations. In the end, the process likely attracted more critics than supporters to the governor’s cause.  urged Black parents to “flood” the governor with complaints about “history being silenced.” The state shut the tip line down offering scant evidence of indoctrination.

A New Hampshire project met . State officials disabled it last year after a ruled that the state’s 2021 “banned concepts” laws that restricted lessons on LGBTQ issues and racial history were too vague. 

But in Oklahoma, a school safety alert system that Superintendent Ryan Walters uses to expose and punish what he calls the Five complaints pointed to books that Walters deemed “pornographic” in a district north of Oklahoma City. His accusation sparked a legal battle over whether the state chief could control the contents of school libraries. 

Richard Cobb, superintendent of the Mid-Del Schools, outside Oklahoma City, called the online system “a huge overreach.” 

“It’s frustrating because anyone can report anything,” he said. “Then the burden is on us to prove our innocence.”

And for many educators, there’s the rub — especially now that the Trump administration has made combating diversity, equity and inclusion an urgent national priority.

On Feb. 27, the U.S. Department of Education launched the . Its name leaves no doubt about its purpose — to uncover and eradicate examples of diversity, equity and inclusion in more than 100,000 schools across the nation. In a statement, Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice urged parents to “share the receipts of the betrayal that has happened in our public schools.”

Trump made the issue a hallmark of his campaign, calling such policies “absolute nonsense” and “illegal.” 

On the department’s portal, a simple online form invites parents to report “illegal discriminatory practices“ that the department will use to launch investigations. 

But the department didn’t say what made DEI illegal, and the concept has proved notoriously difficult to define. Schools have implemented race-focused activities like in elementary school, drawing backlash from parents who say the lessons make their children feel ashamed. But others have blocked lessons of clear historical significance, such as about Ruby Bridges, the first Black child to attend a school in New Orleans. 

Even in its attempt to eliminate DEI, the department has found the concept to be something of a moving target.

The launch of the portal followed a stern from the Office for Civil Rights that districts could face investigation if they treat “students differently on the basis of race.” In response, some teachers from lessons on Black history. A day after unveiling the portal, however, officials followed up with a more , explaining that cultural observances like Black History Month and International Holocaust Remembrance Day would be acceptable as long as all students, regardless of race, are welcome to participate. 

But the department recently resumed the offensive. Last week, it told states and districts to sign a document certifying that they have eliminated DEI practices or risk losing millions of dollars in federal funding. The department has since extended the deadline until April 24, said Madi Biedermann, a department spokeswoman.

New York is among of states that has . Washington state Superintendent Chris Reykdal called the department’s ultimatum “an assault on the autonomy of states” and said it would be “irresponsible” to sign the certification. California also seems to be . In an emailed statement, the state education agency called the demand “another attempt to impose a national ideology on local schools by threatening to withhold vital resources for students.”

Adding to the outsize stakes is the way the Trump administration has weaponized the issue, canceling grants and connected with even tangential connections to DEI work. In some cases, it has used DEI as an excuse to challenge legitimate history and bolster thinly veiled discrimination. Using artificial intelligence to comb through over 1,000 web pages, the Pentagon to notable achievements among minority members of the military. It later restored some of them. And in January, Trump for a fatal mid-air collision between a helicopter and a plane over the Potomac River.

Those who have worked in states that have implemented tip lines expect End DEI to meet with a similar flurry of confusion, tangents, spam, personal grievances — and a chill on important classroom discussions.

“I can see the parallel” with Oklahoma, Cobb said. “We’ve seen the Trump administration bully powerful law firms and Ivy League schools into submission. I imagine they would have zero qualms about applying similar pressure to individuals or school districts.”

‘Snitch line mentality’

The department’s move comes amid deep national divisions about DEI. A January by The Economist and YouGov found a roughly even split, with 45% in favor of ending such programs in government and schools, and 40% opposed.

As Trump took office on Jan. 20, another survey attempted to gauge the effects of critical race theory on classroom instruction. The results were similarly mixed. Fifty-eight percent  of high school students reported that their  teachers frequently make comments like, “We must be actively anti-racist,” while 42% responded that teachers support the Black Lives Matter movement. At the same time, 77% said their teachers either never or rarely made them feel uncomfortable about disagreeing with their point of view. 

Brian Kisida, a government and public affairs professor at the University of Missouri and a lead author of the study, said the department’s portal could give parents a vehicle for reporting actual discrimination against their children. But he expressed concern that the likely result would be to magnify the polarization it is designed to eradicate, saying “this snitch line mentality can do more harm than good.”

“I expect many of these disputes could be solved if parents and educators just had good-faith conversations with each other, and both sides would likely learn something in the process,” he said.

Some wonder how the department can thoughtfully navigate the issues, given the dramatic cuts to the program that normally would have been responsible for investigating discrimination complaints: the department’s civil rights office.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon eliminated half of the OCR staff along with seven regional offices that handle investigations. With its remaining employees, the department redirected civil rights enforcement toward administration priorities like ending antisemitic protests on college campuses and keeping transgender students out of girls’ sports. 

“If you’re dismantling the Department of Education and moving everything somewhere else, who are these people that are going to do the investigation?” asked LaToya Baldwin Clark, a law professor at the University of California Los Angeles who . “Who are these people that actually do any type of enforcement?”

Biedermann, the department spokeswoman, would not say who is reviewing the submissions or whether officials have followed up on any tips. But unlike the Department of Defense, she said staff members at the department — not AI — will review submissions to identify potential areas for investigation. Biederman offered no information on how many reports the system has received, but Marleigh Schaefer, a spokeswoman for Moms for Liberty, said “thousands of parents have submitted to the portal.” 

One of them is Lauren McDonough, part of a Texas conservative group called Families Engaged.

In her complaint to the department, she described her failed attempts to get the Richardson Independent School District to pass a policy requiring students to use bathrooms that match their sex assigned at birth. She became concerned after learning that a trans girl in first grade attends her daughters’ school. In an email, a district official told her that schools consider transgender students’ requests on a case-by-case basis.

“I was like ‘What the heck, it takes five minutes,’ ” McDonough said of the form. “If something comes of it, great, but my hopes are very low. I feel like I have to exhaust my resources as a parent.”

Biedermann said people who make submissions shouldn’t necessarily expect a response and described the portal as a “tool to identify where and if there are pockets or patterns of … violations.”

Not surprisingly, the site, created by staff from billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, fell prey to pranks. “Y’all know what to do …Copy the Bee Movie script,” one critic — a reference to an about sending the entire script from the 2014 movie to crash a site. Three former staffers at the department said in the rush to get the portal up, the site went down within 12 hours.

“We were laughing about it,” said a former employee who asked to remain anonymous to protect colleagues still at the department. 

Biedermann acknowledged that the portal was initially overwhelmed, but said it resumed operations in about an hour and is now working smoothly.

‘Name names’ 

In Virginia, Youngkin set up his special email address to make good on a promise to listen to parents’ concerns. His successful run for governor in 2021 tapped into deep anger over remote learning and fears that critical race theory was infiltrating classrooms. An academic principle usually reserved for graduate schools, CRT argues that racism is built into the fabric of American institutions.

As governor, Youngkin’s first banned classroom lessons based on CRT. On a , he promoted the tip line as a way to track down “inherently divisive teaching practices.” 

He called out the Fairfax County district for a high school English assignment, titled Privilege Bingo, that was intended to teach students about diverse perspectives. The squares on the bingo card listed features such as being white, Christian, male and able-bodied. , an Army veteran complained that the lesson listed being part of a military family as an example of privilege. The district apologized and revised the activity, but said it remained committed to teaching students how to understand multiple viewpoints. Youngkin pledged to wipe out similar lessons from Virginia classrooms. 

“We’re going to make sure that we catalog it all,” he said.

But the effort didn’t go as planned. Teachers in the Prince William County district, next to Fairfax, thought it was a joke. They even ordered custom T-shirts that read “Hi tip line? I’d like to report Virginia teachers for being incredible at what they do. Thanks Bye.” 

“We just couldn’t believe that they were going to spend tax dollars to run this tip line, but not fully fund our schools to decrease class sizes,” said Angie Trerotola, a high school social studies teacher in Prince William.  

Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update got into the act. Co-anchor Colin Jost quipped, “You know you’re racist when you call the cops about a Black character in a book.”

In response to public records requests, the governor’s staff initially submissions to the tip line. But when several news outlets sued, the governor turned over 350 emails as part of a settlement, few of which pointed to lessons Youngkin was trying to eliminate. A spokesman referred ����Ӱ�� to a statement it released in the fall of 2022 explaining that it the tip line because it was “receiving little to no volume.”

A similar tip line in Rhode Island also failed to gain traction. The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a nonprofit, at the height of outrage and confusion over how schools were teaching racial issues. It called on parents to “‘name names’ of those indoctrinating our kids.” 

The free market think tank and the conservative Civics Alliance collaborated on that said state social studies standards are “animated by a radical identity-politics ideology” and show “hostility toward America.” The standards expect students to study Latino history, workers’ rights and feminism, they wrote, but distort “history where white men played the leading roles.”

More recently, Mike Stenhouse, the center’s CEO, that a policy that recognizes transgender students and protects their decision to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity puts them at risk of a civil rights investigation by the Trump administration.

But after four years, the group’s tip line had nothing to show for it, Stenhouse said in an email. The line “has not yielded any notable results” or received many “credible responses,” he said. Stenhouse blamed the lack of participation on the center’s failure to adequately promote the site.

‘Soup du jour’

In Oklahoma, Superintendent Walters has had more success getting the public’s help. His predecessor, Joy Hofmeister, launched a website called Awareity to report school security risks. Walters turned to it to and districts violating a state law banning divisive concepts and his own mandates.

last year focused on two books in the Edmond School District’s high school libraries. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, is an award-winning bestseller about an Afghan boy’s relationship with his father set against the backdrop of the Soviet-Afghan war, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir about growing up in a dysfunctional family. Both books include descriptions of sexual assault.

Walters threatened to downgrade the district’s accreditation if they didn’t remove them. When the district sued over his rule, it had chosen to “peddle porn and is leading the charge to undermine parents in Oklahoma.”

Cobb, the Mid-Del superintendent, didn’t pull the books, but others preemptively removed the titles and similar ones Walters labeled “filth.”

“I guess we all have to make our own decisions,” Cobb said. “But I’d rather stand up and fight than comply in advance with something that is wrong.”

Walters lost the case Edmond brought against him last year. The Oklahoma Supreme Court accused the superintendent of acting with “unauthorized quasi-judicial authority” and said decisions over library materials are up to local districts. 

The option to report “pornographic materials or sexualized content” no longer appears in Awareity’s dropdown menu. The public also can no longer use it to report that a teacher is violating the state’s divisive concepts law. Last June, a federal judge parts of the legislation, finding some of the language confusing for teachers to follow. 

But Walters has a new use for Awareity. The public can report a “violation of religious liberty and patriotism rights.” Those categories complement his controversial mandate for teachers to in the classroom and that students should be allowed to fly and display the American flag at school “without infringement.” 

“It’s like the soup du jour — whatever issues seem to be playing well at the current time,” said Brendon Hoover, coordinator at the Kirkpatrick Policy Group, which advocates for schools having full-time librarians.

He worked with Oklahoma Appleseed for Law and Justice, a nonprofit law firm, to file an open records request for Awareity files. Complaints included objections to schools offering Stamped, by anti-racist author Ibram Kendi, and a middle school book fair featuring selections from the LGBTQ-themed Heartstopper series of graphic novels.

The Oklahoma Department of Education did not respond to questions about Awareity.

Hoover blames the current atmosphere surrounding classroom instruction for contributing to an exodus of teachers from the profession and the state. Last year, Oklahoma approved nearly for teachers to fill vacancies, breaking a previous record, the Oklahoma Voice reported.

“Oklahoma has a huge teacher shortage,” Hoover said, “and it’s because teachers are under attack by their own state Superintendent.”

One former Oklahoma health teacher got tired of being a target. Describing herself as a “blue drop in a red sea,” she said the threat of being reported for discussing racial issues was one reason she left the classroom in 2022. She stopped teaching a lesson about how the slave trade likely contributed to Black Americans’ to certain diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. After parents complained, an administrator encouraged her to drop the material from her curriculum.

“What the parents heard was, ‘White folks did this to Black folks,’ ” said the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous to protect future job prospects.

UCLA’s Clark said she expects the new End DEI portal to create a similar chill. 

“These mechanisms to surveil and to monitor teachers and principals are ripe for reports that are not serious or not given in good faith,” she said. Ultimately, she said, “the purpose is to get people to self-censor.”

She and 15 other students had started at the college that fall in the hopes of studying to become highly effective educators. Many of them planned to return to their rural communities after graduation to help fill a gaping teacher shortage. They were all recipients of full-tuition scholarships through the , a three-year, federally funded project meant to diversify and increase the number of teachers in Nebraska and Kansas.

What they learned that February afternoon has left many of them reeling and questioning what comes next: Abrupt federal cuts from the Trump administration — meant to root out ��෡��” practices — resulted in every one of them losing their scholarships, effective immediately. They’d be able to finish out the spring term, but as of May, the money would be gone. Of the 16 students, 14 are first-time freshmen, just beginning their higher education journeys.

“I knew we were going to get told something terrible, but I couldn’t put a stop to it,” said Vianey, who asked to be identified by her first name only because of concerns that speaking out in the media could have negative ramifications. “To me, this scholarship was my way out. It was my way to be something. To contradict all the odds that were placed on me,” she added as her voice broke and she began to cry.

“I’ve wanted to be a teacher my whole life. Now, with all of this happening, I don’t know if I can recover.”

Amanda Morales, associate professor at UNL and principal investigator on the RAÍCES project, said telling her group of undergraduate students about the funding cuts was “by far, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

“When you see young people’s dreams just shattered in an instant because of something you said or this message you had to give, how do you bounce back from that?” she asked. “What is happening to these projects and these programs is unprecedented, and it is really inhumane. There’s no other word for it.”

RAÍCES, whose name is derived from a Spanish word meaning “roots,” was one of many teacher preparation programs that suddenly lost their funding when the Education Department canceled more than in grants. The programs, meant to increase the number of teachers in high-need and hard-to-staff schools, were accused by the department of discriminating against certain populations and embracing “divisive ideologies” which aligned with diversity, equity and inclusion and “social justice activism.”

Eight attorneys general have since filed alleging the cancellation of the congressionally approved grants was unlawful. On Monday, a federal judge ordered the administration to in those eight states, which don’t include Kansas or Nebraska. Three teacher prep programs have also filed  

The scholarship, whose name stands for Re-envisioning Action and Innovation through Community Collaborations for Equity across Systems, had been promised $3.9 million through a grant, which sought to train more highly effective educators. It was housed at UNL and Kansas State University, which were required to match at least 25% of the federal funding.

RAÍCES was designed to be a comprehensive program that addressed the intractable teacher shortage in rural areas from recruiting novices to retaining veterans. It began with a high school-based program called Youth Participatory Action Research, providing students with the opportunity to explore careers in the classroom and investigate problems affecting their own education and communities. A number of students who ultimately received the full undergraduate scholarships, including Vianey, were recruited from this program. 

It also included funding for graduate-level scholarships, mentoring for teachers and ongoing professional development — meant to help educators stay in the profession long term. 

On Feb. 10, at 8:55 p.m., Socorro Herrera, professor and executive director of Kansas State’s Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy and the project’s lead principal investigator, received an email with an attached letter from the Education Department, telling her the grant would be terminated because it “is inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, Department priorities.” 

She was shocked. 

“My thought is,” she said, “it’s not ‘department priorities,’ but it is community priorities. It is state priorities. It is the priority of human beings who want to go back into those public schools in which they grew up to give back [and] to be the most highly qualified teacher they can be for all students — but also for students who are like them.”

Morales said the letter and “blanket termination” of all SEED grants “left all of us just reeling with no clarity, no support, no one to call. Even our program officers are inaccessible. We were just left in the lurch — left to just flounder and try to pick up the pieces of this shattered project.”

‘[The] teacher that I wish I had’

Vianey was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. as a toddler with her parents and three siblings. The family spent their first decade or so in Washington state, where Vianey attended school as an English language learner. Even as a kid, Vianey was aware of the shortfalls of her school’s program and the negative impact it had on her and her English learner classmates.

“I just want to be that teacher that I wish I had when I was growing up to others,” she said.

She noted it was particularly challenging to not have any teachers who looked like her or shared her life experiences. At the time, this made her feel like her dream of becoming an educator might not be attainable, a narrative she hopes to combat.

“It gives you a sense of belonging when you see somebody that looks like you in the classroom,” she added.

When Vianey was in high school she moved to Nebraska with her mom, where she attended Lincoln High School and participated in the youth action program, which allowed her to do research on English language programs in her state. Eventually this led her to the RAÍCES scholarship at UNL, where she’s studying secondary education for Spanish, in the hopes of eventually returning to her own high school. 

As of December 2024, Nebraska schools had about , meaning they were staffed by someone other than a fully qualified teacher or were left totally vacant. About half of districts that responded to the state’s request for data reported complete vacancies. 

At roughly the same time, Kansas had almost — an 8%  increase from the previous spring, according to the teacher licensure director for the Kansas State Department of Education.

Nationally there were almost according to the Learning Policy Institute’s most recent analysis, likely a significant undercount because only 30 states and Washington, D.C. publish such data. 

has shown that rural schools face distinct difficulties filling their teaching positions, and that teacher turnover is especially common in high-poverty rural schools. And hiring foreign language and bilingual education teachers is especially hard.

“The money, explicitly and intentionally, was about increasing the number of teachers in rural schools,” said Herrera. 

Vianey had acute ELL teacher shortages in her own district in mind when she decided to apply to RAÍCES. Getting accepted into the full scholarship program “meant everything” to her and to her parents, whose formal education ended after third grade. 

“[My mom] felt like she succeeded and she was finally being able to achieve what she came here to do, and that is to give us a better life,” said Vianey.

‘We’re not rolling over here’

Vianey is among the at least 70 high school students, 26 undergraduates and 40 master’s students across the two universities who have been impacted by the cuts, along with the almost 1,000 teachers in partnering districts who were receiving ongoing education and professional development.

The ripple effects are far-reaching, potentially impacting thousands of students whose chances of getting a highly qualified, fully certified teacher have now been diminished.

When the funding runs out this spring, Tiffaney Locke — a 42-year-old career changer who has spent the past 12 years working in community mental health — will be just two courses shy of her master’s degree. 

She said as a Black student in Kansas City schools, she was able to find success because of educators who believed in her. Her plan was to return to a similar school to be that teacher for kids who look like her. She quit her full-time job to complete what she thought would be a fully funded program and is now scared about what comes next but hopeful that her teaching career is still within reach.

While the population of the scholarship recipients is diverse, the only requirement for application was that students come from one of the six partner districts in Nebraska and Kansas, all identified as difficult to staff and, in most cases, rural. One of the districts they partnered with had almost 120 vacancies.

Of the 16 undergraduates at UNL who were supposed to receive full scholarships — including housing, meal plans and a laptop — one quarter identified as white and half identified as Hispanic or Latino, according to Morales. Three-quarters were first-generation college students and over half came from rural communities. They were all high-achieving high school students and 15 of the 16 had GPAs just over 3.5 in their first semester, well above the program’s 2.0 requirement.

“The fact that the government doesn’t think you’re worthy to be here is tragic,” Morales said.

Morales and Herrera are now scrambling to find external funding, making any attempt they can to keep the program alive, but “this may be the end of the road for many of [the students] because just loans and Pell grants wouldn’t be enough to see them through,” Herrera said.

These across-the-board cuts have also had a chilling effect, she said, making those at the university level scared to speak out for fear of retribution from the federal government. Their concern is not baseless: the Trump administration recently in funding from Columbia University and halted payment on in grants to the University of Maine system.

“Everybody’s in this silent mode, like ‘Don’t call attention to yourself, go under the radar, keep doing the work,’” she added.

But the leaders of RAÍCES aren’t done.

 “We’re not rolling over here,” said Morales. “We’re not tucking our tail and just saying, ‘OK, I guess this is just the way it is.’ We’re fighting on every front we possibly can and [are] continuing to fight up until the very last moment. I’m not giving up.”

And Vianey isn’t quitting either. She wants to send a clear message to the people who took away her scholarship: “It’s not going to stop us from achieving our dreams. We will find a way out … my purpose is to become a teacher — and I’m not going to stop until I’m able to.”

As a result, corporations and institutions are rescinding their DEI commitments, and negative consequences are emerging. For instance, enrollment of Black and Hispanic students at selective colleges after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.

Beyond the courts, the White House has launched its own anti-DEI initiatives, such as the executive order on January 21 — which arrived just as the nation was honoring Martin Luther King Jr. The order asserts that DEI policies “deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.”

As someone who has studied moral philosophy and psychology and worked on DEI initiatives throughout my career in education, I find these assumptions disturbing. Meritocracy is an ideal worth striving for, but the playing field is not level in many settings, particularly in education.

Education is rife with systemic inequities that disproportionately and predictably disadvantage students based on race, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, and language. These barriers hinder fair access to resources and opportunities. For example, schools in economically disadvantaged communities, especially those serving students of color, often struggle to attract and retain experienced, highly qualified educators.

When I worked at a charter school in Indianapolis serving multilingual students and students of color, the average teacher tenure was just three years, meaning most were novices. In contrast, when I was an administrator in a highly affluent Chicago suburb, the teaching staff was a mix of experienced and new educators, most with advanced degrees and credentials. 

The disparities were staggering. consistently shows that teacher quality strongly influences student achievement. With high teacher turnover, it is nearly impossible to make strong gains, because the faculty and staff are unable to build the critical level of expertise needed for achieving excellence. Without DEI initiatives, how are schools supposed to address these persistent inequities?

People define DEI in various ways. In my work, DEI initiatives focus on analyzing, studying, and addressing inequities; promoting and valuing diversity; and creating environments that foster inclusion and belonging. For example, my team and I applied DEI frameworks to explore ways to increase the success of historically marginalized groups in STEM courses and career pathways. h showed that one barrier for many students was a lack of connections to STEM professionals. 

A school questionnaire revealed that most of our students did not personally know a scientist or understand what an engineer does. In response, we developed a STEM strategic plan that intentionally incorporated mentoring opportunities with scientists and engineers who identified as female or as people of color. In addition, we expanded access to assistive technologies for students who might otherwise struggle to fully engage with STEM content. Tools such as language translators, closed captioning, and text readers improved accessibility for multilingual learners and students receiving special education services. 

At its core, DEI is about fostering a fair and just society. Eliminating DEI programs allows deeply flawed systems to persist. In education, women and people of color remain underrepresented in leadership roles. The School Superintendents Association’s 2020 found that the typical superintendent is male and white. At the time of the study, only 27% of superintendents were women. 

A from the University of Texas at Austin confirmed similar numbers in Texas, despite women comprising 76% of the teaching workforce. This suggests that the path to leadership is not equally accessible to women, even as they are held to the same credentialing and training requirements as men. DEI initiatives help identify and address these disparities.

The same study found racial disparities in leadership, as well. While Hispanic students made up 53% of Texas’s student population, 79% of school superintendents were white. Research has shown that students of color benefit from educators who share their identities, suggesting that increasing Hispanic representation in educational leadership could better serve Texas youth. Yet, Trump’s recent executive order prohibits considering race in hiring decisions.

Opponents have irresponsibly weaponized the term “DEI hire” to argue that marginalized individuals who attain leadership positions are unqualified, reinforcing harmful stereotypes and deepening inequities. This perspective assumes that white superintendents dominate leadership positions solely due to merit, an argument that dangerously echoes long-debunked racial hierarchies of intelligence.

True DEI is not about being anti-white or indoctrinating students with a liberal ideology. It is about ensuring that all individuals, especially the historically marginalized, have equitable access to success. The current backlash against DEI risks cementing barriers that have persisted for generations, leaving educators with fewer tools to address disparities.

At its core, education is meant to be a great equalizer. But without intentional efforts to level the playing field, it often reinforces existing inequalities. DEI is not a threat to meritocracy – it is an essential mechanism for achieving it. As educators, we have a moral obligation to uphold these principles, ensuring that fairness and justice remain foundational in our schools and society.

Experts consider a released by the department late Friday to be more in line with how the courts have traditionally viewed illegal discrimination.

“This is such a far cry from what they put out two weeks ago,” said Jackie Wernz, a civil rights attorney and consultant who worked in both the Obama and first Trump administrations. “It’s downright reasonable.”

Part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to root out diversity, equity and inclusion, the called diversity a “nebulous” goal and warned that districts could be subject to investigations for treating “students differently on the basis of race.” It prompted opposition from , and education . And it left some educators wondering topics like Black History Month.

The Q&A, however, asserts that officials would not automatically consider anything labelled DEI to be illegal and would examine as part of its investigations whether a policy actually resulted in discrimination against students. Cultural and historical observances are fine, the document says, as long as all students are welcome to participate, regardless of race.

“They were trying to see how far they could go, and then they got the pushback,” Wernz said, noting the timing of the department’s guidance. “I love that they say you can celebrate Black history at the end of the month.”

In a on the changes, Wernz noted that the department clarified that it would need evidence that a particular racial group was harmed before it decided to launch an investigation. But she still warned districts to avoid lessons that separate students by race or assignments that ask them to identify their race. 

Neeraja Deshpande, a policy analyst at the conservative Independent Women’s Forum, said there was no need to walk back any instructions to districts.

“I don’t think the earlier letter needed to be softened,” she said. “But, of course, school districts were going to have questions and this seemed to answer them.”

‘Vagueness, Confusion and Chaos’

The department is still likely to get wide-ranging reports of what members of the public consider “divisive ideologies and indoctrination.” The portal it unveiled last week doesn’t define what the department considers to be illegal discrimination. 

The additional guidance hasn’t prompted the American Federation of Teachers to drop its federal lawsuit over the original letter. In a statement, AFT President Randi Weingarten said that the Q&A “just made things murkier.”

Last week, the union, along with AFT-Maryland and the American Sociological Association, sued, appeared to ban the teaching of “systemic and structural racism” in American history. The lawsuit says the teachers would be afraid to discuss Jim Crow laws, the internment of Japanese Americans and other examples of historical discrimination.

The Q&A doesn’t discuss how teachers should approach lessons on history and only says, “OCR’s assessment of school policies and programs depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.”

“If you are a classroom teacher, you still have no idea what you can or can’t teach when it comes to the history of the United States and the world,” Weingarten  said. “It seems like vagueness, confusion and chaos is the point.”

California’s K-12 schools are getting some clarity on how to handle the Trump administration’s sweeping orders to abolish diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The answer is: Do nothing. Not yet, anyway.

“Time to take a breath. Just because Trump ordered it, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” Noelle Ellerson Ng, a legislative advocate for the ,  last week. “Executive orders on their own can’t really accomplish much … There’s a distinct difference between activity and productivity.”

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education  for any school that has programs focused on race. That could include clubs, activities, prizes, graduation ceremonies “and all other aspects of student, academic and campus life,” .

“With this guidance, the Trump Administration is directing schools to end the use of racial preferences and race stereotypes in their programs and activities — a victory for justice, civil rights laws, and the Constitution,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights for the education department, said in a .   

Schools have until Feb. 28 to end the programs.

On Friday, a judge  some of Trump’s orders related to diversity, equity and inclusion. The ruling prevents the federal government from cutting funding, but it doesn’t stop it from investigating schools’ race-related programs – at least for now.

Nearly every high school in California has at least some programs focused on students’ race. Black, Latino and Asian student clubs are common, as are celebrations like Chinese New Year or Cinco de Mayo. In recent years, more students — particularly Native American students — have worn ethnic regalia to graduation ceremonies, or even held separate ceremonies.

About 8% of California’s K-12 funding comes from the federal government, mostly as payments for special education and Title I grants for schools where at least 40% of the student population is low-income. If the federal money disappears, those schools and students will be most affected.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said he was reviewing the Department of Education’s directive, but in general, he said that DEI programs are legal and schools have a right to promote them.

In a  in January with 12 other state attorneys general, Bonta called Trump’s anti-DEI efforts “unnecessary and disingenuous.”

“The administration is targeting lawful policies and programs that are beneficial to all Americans,” they wrote. “These policies and programs are not only consistent with state and federal anti-discrimination laws, they foster environments where everyone has an opportunity to succeed.” 

Attorney General weighs in

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, but earlier in February he urged schools to “stay focused” and not get distracted by Trump’s orders.

“Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote to school authorities. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Now is the time when our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.” 

Some parents were dismayed at the directive, saying it would limit their children’s exposure to other cultures. Katie Walton, a mother of three Native American children, said she worried how it would impact Native American programs and curriculum, particularly a  requiring schools to teach about the genocide of Native Californians during the Spanish and Gold Rush eras.

“Me and my husband will teach our kids what they need to know, but I’m worried about all the other kids who might not get this information,” said Walton, who lives in Madera County and whose children are part of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians. “It makes me sad.” 

Angie Barfield, executive director of , said she’s received calls from school administrators throughout the state who are unsure whether to disband their campus Black student clubs.

She tells them to “stand firm.”

“This is not the time to run,” Barield said. “The governor is going to fight, the attorney general is going to fight, and we’re going to fight, too.”

Black student clubs began decades ago

At least 3,000 high school students in California belong to Black student clubs, although the number is probably much higher, Barfield said. The groups date from the late 1960s, when students at San Francisco State started the first Black student union, and have spread to high schools and colleges nationwide.

Traditionally open to everyone, the clubs give students a chance to socialize, discuss issues and advocate for the needs of Black students. The students in Barfield’s organization also go on college tours, run a youth senate and advocate for student health.

“These clubs have a long track record of supporting not just Black students, but all students,” Barfield said. “This order is taking us backwards.” 

Ng and her colleagues are advising school administrators to consult with school boards, lawyers and community members to see what their options are, and how to respond. But, she said, it’s important to stay calm until there’s more specific information from Washington, D.C., such as a Congressional order.

“Regardless of what the Trump administration does, public school doors are still open and kids still show up,” Ng said. “So quitting is not an option, and we have to figure out how to respond.”

Since taking office in January, Trump has made a  to reshape public schools, some of which are already moving forward. He vowed to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, legalize vouchers for parents to use public money to send their children to private school, and overhaul Title IX, which bans discrimination based on gender.

Earlier this month, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency , which paid for reviews of teaching strategies, literacy programs and special education support, among other services. 

Trump also eliminated a law enforcement provision that protected schools, hospitals and other “sensitive locations” from immigration enforcement. That move has thrown immigrant communities into panic, with parents in some areas .

This story was originally published on CalMatters.

Leaders say they have no plans to hit pause on the project despite a from the U.S. Department of Education that warns against efforts to “preference certain racial groups.” The strongly worded message from Craig Trainor, the top civil rights official at the department, said schools could be investigated for treating “students differently on the basis of race.” 

The Long Beach community asked for “a space that lifts the experience of Black youth,” said Deputy Superintendent Tiffany Brown, adding that the district has a “commitment to listen to those voices.”

Long Beach is not alone. While many school leaders at the letter’s tone, several left-leaning states and districts have since countered Trainor’s threats with tough statements of their own. 

“We’re going to be as inclusive as we’ve always been,” said Gustavo Balderas, superintendent of the Beaverton School District in Oregon. He called the department’s letter “an attempt to bully” districts. “Let’s not be hyper-reactive to things that come out right now.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey in a statement that DEI efforts make the state stronger. California state Superintendent assured districts that memos can’t override existing law or “impose new terms on existing agreements.” And Illinois state chief Tony Sanders reminded educators that state law on the history of different racial groups and LGBTQ issues. 

The letter is part of the Trump administration’s larger DEI offensive, which has included and the cancellation of millions of dollars in contracts related to equity goals.

On Thursday, the department unveiled , a website where the public can report schools they think are illegally discriminating against students.

Many districts and advocacy organizations like , the School Superintendents Association, have homed in on a footnote in Trainor’s letter stating that it “does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards.” 

“It is just a letter. It’s not rules or regs. It’s not changing law,” said Sonia Park, executive director of the Diverse Charter Schools Association, a network with member schools nationwide. “We have diverse in our name. It’s not something we’re going to fade away from.” 

The letter referenced , a 2023 ruling in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down racial preferences in college admissions. But some experts say the letter is inconsistent with the court’s opinion. 

“The letter goes far beyond what the Supreme Court said in SFFA, and, indeed, even contradicts it,” said Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the libertarian Cato Institute. Trainor, for example, said that when making admission decisions, colleges can’t factor essays in which students write about the role of race in their lives. 

But that’s the opposite of what the court ruled, McCluskey said. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said nothing in the ruling “should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise.” 

According to Madison Biedermann, a spokeswoman for the department, officials plan to issue additional guidance. Andrew Manna, an Indianapolis-area education lawyer, said it might also take an actual complaint against a district or an OCR investigation to get clarity on what officials consider to be illegal discrimination. 

But some welcome the department’s more muscular approach. 

“I think, and hope, the department will be at least as strict as the Obama administration was,” said Neeraja Deshpande, a policy analyst at the conservative Independent Women’s Forum. She’s referring to a 2014 alerting districts that they risked civil rights investigations if they disproportionately disciplined Black and Hispanic students. A few months later, OCR launched an investigation into the , later finding over 100 instances where Black students were disciplined more harshly than their white peers for similar infractions.

“This is a fundamental question of fairness, as was SFFA,” Deshpande said. “OCR should absolutely go after schools that undermine fairness via unfair DEI preferences.”

Groups or classes or extra academic support aimed at specific are among the practices that Parents Defending Education, a conservative advocacy group, argues are illegal.

The American Federation of Teachers, along with AFT-Maryland and the American Sociological Association, is challenging the letter. They in federal court Tuesday, saying the “vague and clearly unconstitutional memo is a grave attack on students, our profession and knowledge itself.”

‘Target-rich environment’

Leaders in more right-leaning parts of the country said they’re also not worried about Trainor’s letter, largely because lawmakers in their states have already banned DEI.

Last year, Utah, for example, passed that labels diversity, equity and inclusion “prohibited discriminatory practices.” When Utah’s education department gave the legislature a compliance update, there were no violations to report, state Superintendent Sydnee Dickson told ����Ӱ��. 

“We didn’t need to make dramatic changes in our K-12 system,” she said. 

Trainor’s letter followed an from the president that called on the education department to devise a plan for stripping districts of their federal funds if they advance “discriminatory equity ideology.” Officials have until the end of April to devise such policies. 

But the OCR letter accelerates the process, warning districts to “cease all efforts” to accomplish what it calls “nebulous” diversity goals and that it will begin taking “appropriate measures to assess compliance” March 1. The department has yet to specify what those measures might be.

Parents Defending Education has already done a lot of the work for the new administration. The organization keeps a of districts nationwide that have equity-related policies and initiatives. Last year, it forced the Los Angeles district to revise its Black Student Achievement Plan, which provided additional counseling and academic support in schools predominantly serving Black students. All students, not just those who are Black, are now eligible for the extra help. 

 The group’s list has more districts from California than from any other state. 

“California is a target-rich environment for the administration’s causes,” said Laura Preston, director of government affairs for F3Law, which handles education cases throughout the state. 

She suggested that the state might not want to risk the loss of federal education funds at a time when state resources are needed to rebuild parts of Los Angeles ravaged by fire. But she also questioned OCR’s ability to conduct thorough investigations when the department is . The letter, she said, sets up a potential clash between states and the federal government. prohibits the government from mandating or controlling instruction or withholding funds from districts if they don’t comply. 

“Trump keeps saying he wants states’ rights [and] then tries to be the federal school board,” she said. “It doesn’t work in the long haul.”

‘Committed to full compliance’

To show that some education leaders welcome Trainor’s message, the department last week highlighted statements from several state chiefs who agree with the letter. 

“I applaud this directive from the U.S. Department of Education and Florida stands ready to assist other states to end racial preferences in education,” said Manny Diaz, Florida education commissioner. And Ellen Weaver, state superintendent in South Carolina, said her department is “committed to full compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s directive.”

But Diaz, Weaver and Dickson from Utah were also among the 12 state education leaders who last month told Linda McMahon, Trump’s education secretary nominee, that they wanted the department to stop issuing “dear colleague” letters intended to push states to “take actions aligned to the current administration’s priorities and opinions.”

McCluskey at Cato said the letter is still consistent with their request, which was to clearly state that dear colleague letters are not legally binding. But he still finds such missives problematic.

“For all intents and purposes they impose new law, while those who issue them simultaneously claim they legally change nothing,” he said. “Of course, they shouldn’t change anything. Changing law is a legislative responsibility.”

Aaron Spence, superintendent of the Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia — which has long been targeted on Parents Defending Education’s — said he’s tried to reassure the community that his district isn’t doing anything illegal, like using racial quotas or hiring staff based on race instead of qualifications.

In January 2022, just after his election, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an demanding that schools avoid “inherently divisive concepts.” But Spence doesn’t view his district’s to be controversial and said under , districts are required to report student progress for different subgroups. 

“People get this pie mentality, which is ‘Oh gosh, if they do more for this group of students, they’re doing less for this group of students,’ ” he said. “The goal for everybody is 100% success. We’re working to ensure all of them get over the bar of achievement that we’ve set for them.”

“I taught him most everything up until kindergarten,” Lee said. “And then he surpassed me.” 

Managing Xavier’s outsized ability proved challenging. His mother, a teacher and performer, was constantly chasing down new opportunities for him in what felt like a job of its own, one that came with numerous out-of-pocket expenses. 

Lee paid a math tutor $70 a week to work with him for just 45 minutes and was constantly buying books and other materials to support him. One coding program alone cost $900. It was terrific, she said, but unaffordable in the long term. 

It wasn’t until summer 2023 that she learned about a brand new nonprofit created to support high-achieving young math students with more than $100,000 in educational assistance over 10 years. Xavier was recommended to by an he attended in Ohio. 

Soon, he and his mom were bombarded with help. 

“Now I have a partner,” Lee said of the organization. “They are begging us to tell them what he is interested in so that they can follow up. They make things so much easier.”

Born in June 2023 and funded by more than $16 million in grants from foundations focused on mathematics and supporting underserved youth, National Math Stars already paid for her son’s $299 3D printer and sundry items through , a math tutoring service that offers online classes, books and other learning tools.  

The program began with 12 children from around the country and added another 61 from Texas last fall. All were between the ages of 7 and 11. 

It will soon expand to the Midwest: It plans to bring on another 100 students later this year — half from the Lone Star State and the remainder from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It intends to grow incoming classes to 200-plus children, as long as funding allows for the duration of their decade-long commitment.  

It finds participants by asking select schools — it’s in communication with more than 1,500 of them — to identify students in the second and third grade who score in the top 2% or 3% of their class on standardized math exams. Parents can also apply on their child’s behalf: and will close June 15.

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, National Math Stars’ founder, wants to identify and help mathematically gifted students when they are young, before factors like race and socioeconomics wear away at their opportunity and achievement. 

“If we look for top performers in second grade, we’re going to have a more diverse and representative group … than if we first look for them in eighth grade or in high school, when there has been more time for the people with more resources to get ahead — and the people with fewer resources to fall behind,” she said. 

Walder-Biesanz knows what it’s like to be unchallenged at school. She skipped three grades — she entered college at 15 and graduated four years later — but was another three years ahead in what was her favorite subject: She took algebra in sixth grade at age 9 and calculus in 10th grade when she was 12. 

She earned her bachelor’s from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, her master’s in European Literature at the University of Cambridge and her MBA from Stanford. Walder-Biesanz previously worked as a product manager at Microsoft and Yahoo and later as a management consultant at Bain.

While her family was well resourced, her local schools’ math curriculum wasn’t challenging enough: She had to seek outside sources to supplement what it lacked. 

She knows not all children have that chance, which is why she is focused on widening opportunity for all mathematically gifted kids. 

While future classes will skew younger, the pilot included older students like Xavier to amass a group quickly and to serve as a vanguard: These children will reach middle, high school and college ahead of their peers, allowing National Math Stars time to further refine its offerings. 

Xavier, 11 and who enjoys coding, said he loves math because, “It can describe almost anything if you use it right.” 

The sixth grader said he’s currently trying to build a , an for generating a sequence of numbers whose properties approximate ones. They’re often used in programming, simulations and electronic games. 

He’s also interested in pentomino tilings — think of the shapes used in the game Tetris, which have four squares and add a fifth. 

“I just think it’s cool,” he said. 

And, through National Math Stars, he was able to talk to the creators of , which offers a free suite of math tools — including what Xavier calls a “super awesome” graphing calculator — to help users represent their ideas mathematically.

After being asked to speak to National Math Stars students at large, Desmos recognized some of them were already quite familiar with its offerings. Those students were invited to meet with the company’s product team and give their advice on what it could improve upon. 

Xavier said he was elated to speak to people so well respected by the mathematics community. 

Another participant, Haripriya Patel, 9 and in the third grade, attends school online. Her mother said she breezes through her core curriculum, electives and homework in just three to four hours each day.

A part of National Math Stars for about five months, she particularly enjoyed the welcome weekend in Houston, where she and other students made mathematical origami and completed logic puzzles and math-based games. 

Haripriya, who aspires to be a marine biologist, said she loves algebraic equations, geometry and number theory. 

“I like problem solving,” said Haripriya, who lives in Katy, Texas. “I enjoy the process, the opportunity.”

Johan Banegas, 8 and from Dallas, was thrilled to be accepted to the program because “not a lot of people can do it.” 

He said school doesn’t always provide the rigor he needs and that he’s already skipped second grade. 

“To be honest,” he said bashfully during a recent interview, “it’s still so easy in fourth grade.”

National Math Stars has paid for, among other items, Johan’s premium subscription to , which mails him technology packs meant for teens and adults.

Walder-Biesanz recognizes that participating families are asked to make a major commitment to the program. Their children must be enrolled in advanced math courses outside of school, regularly check in with their adviser, attend weekly math mentoring sessions and STEM-related summer programs each year.

“Obviously, we fully fund that, including travel and all the associated costs, but they do have to make the time for it and make it a priority,” she said. 

Johan, who wants to be an engineer, said he is determined to stick with it through high school. 

“They pay for a lot of stuff and they also let us learn more than usual so we can keep on being advanced in math,” he said.

Walder-Biesanz said her organization learned much from its pilot year, including how children value in-person interaction, how participating students didn’t need tutoring in advanced math — they were gifted enough to handle it on their own — and how families from lower socio-economic levels were more hesitant to ask for money to support their students’ academic ambitions. 

“We initially had a kind of free-form funding approach where we said, ‘Hey, you know, if it’s STEM related and you ask for it, we’ll probably say yes,” to telling families they had a certain budget and that “we want you to use the whole thing.”

Walder-Biesanz said her organization asks early on in the admissions process about family income and first-generation immigrant status, looking for indicators that the opportunity might be particularly valuable. 

“We take that strongly into consideration as we try to put student’s scores into context,” she said. “I’m more impressed with an ESL student from a low-income family who scores 99th percentile on our admissions exam than with a super well-resourced student who scores 99.9th percentile.”

Melodie Baker, executive director of , a nonprofit that uses research data and storytelling to shape and advance policies, said timely, early identification is crucial for cultivating and developing mathematical talent.

“Continuous support during formative years, especially for students who face economic stressors, can mitigate typical distractions — needing to work to help support family — and allow students to remain engaged,” she said. “Like the saying goes, while talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.”

Walder-Biesanz said not all highly gifted children are well served by their local public schools and that it’s tragic to lose out on their abilities.

“As a country and as a world, we face a lot of big challenges,” she said. “We are going to need people with really strong STEM skills, really strong analytical ability, really strong problem solving and collaboration skills to tackle the world’s problems and to stay competitive as a country.”

Much has been written about the of getting rid of the Department of Education, one of .

Little of the discussion that we’ve seen has focused on the impact on rural schools, which than urban ones on federal funding.

In fact, rural education often to policymakers and scholars, who aimed at urban and suburban areas, even though students are educated in rural schools.

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This lack of rural research and focus has about rural education that overlook the strengths and opportunities for students who attend rural schools.

As , we compiled a list of three facts about rural education accompanied by the myths that would help policymakers better design programs to support rural students.

1. Rural communities are becoming more diverse

There’s a myth that . While it’s true that most rural counties are majority white, .

The share of people of color in rural communities , according to U.S. Census data. In addition, people of color .

This is because while white people are leaving, people of color are moving in. From 2010 to 2020, over 2 million white people left rural communities, while . The number of rural people who identified as multiracial doubled to nearly 4 million over the same period, and all rural communities except those in .

While the Black population in rural America shrank somewhat during the 2010s, it remains the case that the . In fact, 81% of Black people who don’t live in cities live in the South, a legacy of slavery and how generations of Africans were forcefully taken to work the land as free labor.

Without truly understanding who resides in these communities, educators and policymakers cannot adequately address students’ needs. Failure to do so , particularly those who reside in the South.

2. Rural educators know how to succeed

Another myth is that rural communities or resources to .

As such, policymakers to include rural communities’ cultural capital when they develop textbooks, teacher training plans and education policies. By , we mean the knowledge, skills, education and advantages that people inherit and use to achieve success in society.

One glaring example is that rural communities in teaching materials and curricula, which frequently ignore their local knowledge, traditions and values. This creates a gap in students’ ability to see themselves in jobs and positions outside of their personal contexts. And it hampers teachers’ ability to leverage student strengths when teachers are unprepared to connect with their backgrounds.

is another example of rural students’ cultural capital being overlooked. Too often, funding policies penalize rural schools for their smaller sizes by supporting the closure and consolidation of schools and overlooking their need for more money to account for lower revenue from local and property taxes. This results in a disruption of rural communities’ strong social cohesion and abandoned buildings that reduce economic opportunities.

Community initiatives and local programs provide important resources that larger urban districts might take for granted.

A new grant initiative at Michigan State University that all three of us are involved with aims to help change this. Focused on helping teachers better engage high school physics and chemistry students, the in the rural South to provide rural students with access to more advanced science courses. By working with Alabama A&M University and Winston-Salem State University, it helps ensure local communities’ cultural capital are part of the program. It also seeks to pull together community partnerships to advance science access and learning in the South.

By redesigning policies to take advantage of rural cultural capital, communities and policymakers could unlock untapped potential within rural schools and enhance educational outcomes for all students regardless of where they live. We believe such policies could foster stronger connections between rural K-12 public schools and their surrounding communities, creating more relevant and engaging learning experiences for students.

3. Rural students are high achievers

A third myth is that . As a result, their academic success is too often overlooked by researchers and educators.

In reality, students in rural areas meet the same measures of success as in urban ones – especially in the early years. For example, in rural than nonrural schools before the third grade, according to the Center for School and Student Progress. After that, the higher scores begin to fade due to summer learning loss. After schools close over the summer, rural students are generally left with , compared with those in more urban areas. There is a strong need for more state and federal money to increase access to summer learning opportunities.

Despite this widespread learning loss, graduation rates among rural students than those of nonrural students.

But once again, policymakers fail these students, who have than in urban areas.

factors contributing to this trend include limited , the distance between students’ hometowns and colleges and universities, and lower awareness of financial aid opportunities. In addition, students in the rural South to advanced science courses like physics and chemistry, which can block postsecondary opportunities.

We believe debunking these and other myths and recognizing the diverse strengths of rural communities would help ensure that all students across the nation, including those in rural areas, can attain long-term educational and economic success.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

In 1953, Bárbara Flores entered kindergarten at Washington Elementary School in Madera, California, a small city in the Central Valley surrounded by farm fields. Her mother and grandmother had talked it up: You’re going to learn a lot. You’re going to like it. She believed them. A little girl who would one day become a teacher, Flores was excited.

But only until she got there.

“I walked out,” Flores recalled recently. She got to her grandmother’s house a few blocks away, furious. “Son mentirosas,” she said. “No entiendo nada. Y jamas voy a regresar.” You’re liars. I don’t understand anything. And I’m never going back.

Flores only spoke Spanish. As the grandchild of Mexican immigrants, she didn’t find her language or culture welcome in the school. But little Bárbara didn’t get her way. And, after depositing her daughter back in the classroom, Flores’ mother asked the teacher a question: Aren’t you paying attention? My daughter walked out. The answer felt like a slap and became a part of family lore. All these little Mexican girls look alike. I didn’t notice.

Flores returned to her old school this fall; the building she walked out of still stands, but almost everything else has changed. Now students speak Spanish because their teachers require them to. Little Mexican girls see their culture celebrated on the walls of every classroom.

Washington students will graduate knowing how to speak, read and write in both Spanish and English, joining a growing number of “dual-language immersion” schools in California. Flores’ eyes open wide as she describes the about-face her alma mater has taken.

“We were punished for speaking Spanish,” she said. “We were hit with rulers, pinched, our braids were pulled. Now the whole school is dual-language.”

The path has not been linear. When Flores was a child, California still had an English-only law on the books from the 1800s. As governor, Ronald Reagan signed a bill eliminating it. Then the Civil Rights Movement ushered in a new era of bilingual education, and the California Legislature went further, requiring the model for students still learning English from 1976 until the anti-immigrant backlash of the 1990s. Voters banned it again in 1998, only reversing the latest prohibition in 2016.

Researchers have found bilingual education helps students learn English faster and can boost their standardized test scores, increase graduation rates, better prepare them for college and much more. California has removed the official barriers to offering this type of instruction since 2016, and the state now champions bilingualism and biliteracy, encouraging all students to strive for both. But eight years after repeal, California schools have yet to recover. A decades-long enrollment slump in bilingual-teacher prep programs has led to a decimated teacher pipeline. And underinvestment by the Legislature, paired with a hamstrung state Education Department, has limited the pace of bilingual education’s comeback. 

The result? A rare case in which Californians can say Texas is inspiring. Both states enroll more than 1 million students still learning English — but last year, the Lone Star State put 40% of them in bilingual classrooms. California managed that for just 10%.

In 1987, Flores didn’t think state policy would go this way. At the time, both states required bilingual education. She was a professor, helping build a bilingual-education teacher prep program at Cal State San Bernardino. Her home state could have kept pace with Texas.

But it didn’t.

The English-only years: 1998 to 2016

By 1998, the bilingual-teacher prep program was flourishing. Flores helped aspiring teachers understand how students learn to read and write in two languages, sending them off into classrooms with binders full of instructional tips. Her daughter, then 10, was learning both English and Spanish through bilingual classes in the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Flores was on a parent committee organizing broader support for such programs in the face of a statewide campaign to get rid of them, bankrolled by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ron Unz.

Proposition 227, which passed with 61% of the vote, required schools to teach only in English with students who were still learning the language, something that may sound like a good idea but often ends up unnecessarily putting students’ grade-level learning of other subjects on pause while they master English. Flores saw the impact immediately. Faculty on campus called for the elimination of her program, an effort that ultimately failed but showed, she said, “the intensity of the discrimination and language racism that was prevalent.” Enrollment in bilingual-teacher prep programs across the state plummeted.

Flores also watched local school districts respond. “I was shocked at superintendents in the area,” she said. “They just made everybody throw away their Spanish books. It was horrendous.” As she recalls, every single school district in the Inland Empire got rid of its bilingual programs except San Bernardino City Unified, where parent activism helped ensure the district took advantage of an exception to the new law.

Dual-language students outperform their peers in San Bernardino City Unified

At the time, student achievement data from San Bernardino City Unified had shown that bilingual programs were helping kids succeed. And over the next two decades, researchers studying programs across the United States released a steady stream of evidence about the benefits of bilingual education, especially a version called “dual language.” Traditional bilingual education essentially lets students use their first language while they learn English. Once students become fluent, their schools shift entirely to English instruction, which was the goal all along. Dual-language programs, by contrast, set bilingualism as the goal. Students continue to take courses in Spanish or another language for about half of the school day until they leave the program.

While dual-language programs often stop after elementary school, the “” stretches through students’ K-12 years and into their working lives. Dual-language students have been found to score higher than their peers on both  and exams by middle school. They also get higher scores  in high school, setting them up to be more competitive in college admissions. And importantly, a team at Stanford found that native Spanish speakers were more likely to test out of English-learner services , a coveted goal because of how well “former English learners” do. University of Chicago researchers just released data showing that Chicago high schoolers in this group had  GPAs and SAT scores, high school graduation rates, and community college enrollment and persistence rates.

Patricia Gándara co-directs the UCLA Civil Rights Project, which has published similar findings, and has spent decades of her career cataloging the bilingual advantage. She laments the narrow value placed on bilingual education in the U.S., where it has historically been pursued as a way to help kids who don’t speak English learn the language more quickly and then succeed in English-only classes.

“That’s a very shortsighted view,” Gándara said, “particularly from the research that we’ve done that shows kids who get a strong bilingual education are more likely to go to college, they’re more likely to complete college, they’re more likely to have better jobs and better opportunities.”

Yet while policymakers didn’t catch on right away, well-off and well-educated white parents did, seeing the economic benefits of bilingualism for their children very clearly.

Glendale Unified School District launched its first Spanish-English dual-language program in 2003, going on to add programs in six other languages while official state policy was to ban them. Last year, 85% of the students enrolled were fluent English speakers, according to program director Nancy Hong.

Immigrant families, weighed down by the pressure to speak English and make sure their children do too, have been hard to recruit. Hong said immigrant parents have long been concerned that letting their children spend half the school day or more hearing their home language will get in the way of learning English, even though research has shown it can make the whole process go faster. “The goal is to dismantle those myths and misperceptions,” she said. But even though about 20% of students districtwide are English learners, only about 10% of them are in dual-language programs.

Many immigrant families, however, have become strong advocates for the programs. José Sanjas, a Mexican-born father in Madera Unified School District, takes his 6-year-old daughter past her neighborhood school every day en route to one of the district’s dual-language programs. He and his wife want to preserve their native language as their daughter grows up here, but the draw isn’t only personal; Sanjas also sees how bilingualism will benefit his daughter in the workplace.

“She can help more people in the future,” Sanjas said. “Professionally, she’ll be able to serve everyone.”

Spurred on by support like his, a diverse coalition of school leaders in Madera Unified had, by 2016, come to see dual-language education as key to turning around the district’s chronically low performance, especially among the children of immigrants. Flores had helped make the case, inviting school board members to the annual conference of the California Association for Bilingual Education. And in Flores’ hometown, U.S.-born, white families were among those speaking up in support of the programs, knowing even if the immigrant students’ test scores had the most room to grow, their children could benefit too.

Statewide, public opinion had swung in the other direction; that November, about 74% of California voters said yes to Proposition 58, officially allowing bilingual education back in California classrooms.

“It was a relief we [could] finally move forward for our children,” Flores said. “We lost a whole generation of kids — quite a few generations, really — because of English-only.” 

The next generation, however, is still waiting.

A limping recovery: 2016 to 2024

Flores spent 40 years training future teachers before retiring in 2019. Across three institutions and 32 years at Cal State San Bernardino, she likely taught 10,000 students, many of whom remain sprinkled throughout the state’s bilingual-education system. But if anything defines the legacy of Prop. 227, it is the shattered teacher pipeline it left in its wake.

Gándara, of the UCLA Civil Rights Project, said the current state of affairs is “one of those stories of ‘I told you so.’ … I could see what the problem was going to be: that when people came back to their senses and realized what a mistake this was, the big fallout was going to be that we didn’t have the teachers.” 

California colleges are not producing nearly enough teachers to meet the state’s bilingual-education goals. During the 2022-23 school year, the state commission on teacher credentialing only authorized 1,011 new bilingual teachers — . Only seven went to teachers who speak Vietnamese, the  in California schools that year. And it actually gave out fewer credentials to Spanish-speaking teachers that year than in the three years prior.

The Legislature has not ignored this problem entirely. In 2017, it funded six grants, totaling $20 million, to help districts coach up bilingual staffers and prepare them to lead bilingual classrooms. But Edgar Lampkin, CEO of the California Association for Bilingual Education, said seeding such “grow your own” programs falls far short of addressing the statewide need. “That’s not systemic,” he said.

In 2022, the National Resource Center for Asian Languages, based at Cal State Fullerton, got state money to train 200 teachers over five years. They’re on track, and the center’s director, Natalie Tran, is proud that their programs are not only increasing the number of teachers certified to teach in Asian languages, but also diversifying the languages they speak. She expects to certify teachers who speak Tagalog, Hmong and Khmer this school year. Still, she said, the state needs to do more to train additional teachers of Asian languages, including the less common ones. “We’re going to need help from policymakers to make this happen,” Tran said.

She isn’t the only one calling on lawmakers to be part of the solution. Anya Hurwitz is executive director of SEAL, a nonprofit that got its start as an initiative of the Sobrato Family Foundation to address achievement gaps between immigrant and native-born children in Silicon Valley. She says the state underfunds education, which gets in the way of doing what’s best for kids who don’t speak English.

In 2022, the last year for which  is available, New York spent almost $30,000 per student. California spent about $17,000. And besides its support for teacher training, the Legislature has only given districts  extra to start or expand dual-language programs. In Massachusetts, home to about one-tenth the number of kids still learning English, the Legislature disbursed $11.8 million for the same work, kicking off its own recovery from an English-only law.

“Funding is not the solution to everything in and of itself,” Hurwitz said, “but at the same time, we can’t build capacity without funding and resources.”

Back in Flores’ hometown, Madera administrators have been able to use state and federal money earmarked for their sizable number of immigrant families and those living in poverty to achieve their dual-language goals. But startup costs for dual-language programs are expensive. Teacher preparation programs, Superintendent Todd Lile said, are not producing graduates who are ready to do this work, leaving districts like his with steep professional development costs.

A residency program with Cal State Fresno has given Madera a solid pipeline of teachers, but the recent grads have to clear all the usual hurdles of being new to the profession while also adapting to using Spanish in the classroom. While these new hires at Washington Elementary School grew up bilingual, they went to school through the Prop. 227 years, meaning most of them didn’t develop an academic vocabulary in Spanish.

Viviana Valerio, a kindergarten teacher, said that history made bilingual education an intimidating proposition. “I commonly speak Spanish at home, but then when I was thinking about teaching, I was thinking, ‘OK, academic terms, I don’t know how to translate that,’ or ‘Parents ask me a question and I can’t think of it, I’m going to want to transition into English,’” she said. “For me, that was the scary part.”

Texas, too, lacks bilingual-education teachers, echoing a shortage present in much of the country, but the state is far ahead of California; many districts are able to recruit their own alumni because their programs have been around so long. Texas also continues to invest in bilingual education, helping districts comply with state mandates to offer it. Like California, Texas gives districts more per-pupil funding for every student still learning English; unlike California, Texas offers an additional premium for each of them enrolled in a dual-language program.

As an extra incentive to start and maintain these programs, Texas has started bumping up funding for the native English speakers enrolled too. Research shows the programs work better when classes are evenly split between native English speakers and speakers of the program’s second language. Then, not only are students learning their second language from the teacher but from their peers as well. Conveniently, this also makes for more integrated classrooms, something Gándara said California needs.

“We haven’t been able to take advantage of that, in large part because people don’t pay attention to that as a major issue and also because we don’t have the teachers to pull it off,” Gándara said.

Indeed, districts across the state cite staffing as a major barrier to starting or expanding their programs. Some have gone abroad to recruit. Others have been forced to scrap their plans entirely. Newark Unified School District, in the Bay Area, got rid of its dual-language program this year because it couldn’t find teachers to staff it. “We tried everything,” said Karen Allard, assistant superintendent of education services.

For more than a decade now, the state’s Education Department has tried to champion bilingual programs. Students who can prove their fluency in two languages before graduation get a special seal on their diplomas. The department also implores schools to help the children of immigrants maintain their home language while learning English, building that recommendation into its 2017 . By 2030, it wants half of California students on a path to .

Yet all of this largely amounts to cheerleading. The department is , a result of the state’s commitment to sending almost all K-12 funding directly to school districts, and its support for bilingual education has not come with any firm demands.

Conor Williams, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C., recently found himself — a self-described “professional lefty” — in the surprising position of . Besides following Texas’ lead on funding, he said, California should rethink teacher licensing. The state requires college graduates to pass a suite of tests to become teachers, but Williams points out the tests don’t lead to better instruction and can keep good teachers from classrooms. Getting rid of the requirement could bring more bilingual adults into the profession and expand the teacher pipeline.

Hard to overcome, however, is California’s shift toward more local control over schooling. Williams doesn’t always agree with what the Texas education department does with its power, but the state’s centralized approach means it has “enough power and muscle and will to set rules and hold districts to them,” he said. California’s  is widely popular and has ensured districts get more state money to serve students still learning English as well as those in foster care and low-income households. But, Williams points out, local control has its limits.

“You don’t win civil rights battles by leaving it up to local school boards,” he said.

Still, districts like Madera are moving ahead on their own. In 2020, Flores’ alma mater, Washington Elementary, became Madera Unified’s second dual-language school, welcoming its first class of kindergartners who are expected to leave proficient in both English and Spanish.

Mateo Diaz Zanjas was one of them. He’s now a fourth-grader and speaks in easy Spanish about the school and his long-term dream of going to Harvard. Upon hearing that he and his peers speak very good Spanish, he eagerly replies: “We also speak good English.” And he proves it, going on to answer questions in English about his favorite subjects and the languages he speaks with certain friends.

Administrators, however, are still waiting for the data to show that their bet on bilingual education will pay off in student achievement gains. The pandemic interrupted their early years and set them back, and the oldest students aren’t doing as well as district leaders would have hoped. Commitment to the programs, however, has not waivered. Students’ overall test scores remain low, but their growth scores — or how much they learn over the course of the year — are high.

The district is helping students learn English more quickly, too, meaning they are becoming “former English learners” faster with the newer supports and joining the district’s highest-performing student group.

In the meantime, Madera teachers are using bilingual education to give Spanish speakers grade-level material, knowing that once they sharpen their English skills, all that information will transfer.

“Kids can learn math in Spanish; it’s still math,” Lile said. “They can learn social studies in Spanish; it’s still history and geography. These subject matters don’t exist only in English.” 

During Flores’ recent visit to Madera Unified, she heard Lile describe his long-term goals for the district, including higher graduation rates and better college readiness for the children of immigrants. She looked on proudly, sure her hometown district was finally getting it right.

An uncertain future: 2024 and beyond

A few years ago, Flores introduced Lile to Margarita Machado-Casas, a professor at San Diego State’s Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education, which has long been a top producer of the state’s bilingual teachers. Machado-Casas is helping the district figure out what concrete steps teachers and administrators should take to follow the high-level recommendations of the state’s English Learner Roadmap. They started out with “Principle 1,” which asks school and district staffers to see immigrant students’ language and culture as assets rather than seeing their lack of English proficiency as a deficit. Pointing to Madera’s long and painful history of discriminating against immigrant students, including Flores, Machado-Casas said this principle unexpectedly took the entire first year, requiring “courageous conversations” — including asking staffers to think deeply about whether they believed in the work enough to stay in the district.

Machado-Casas is helping educators in Madera understand both how to help immigrant students tackle grade-level material and convince them that the students can handle it.

Flores hopes the work ends up being a playbook for the entire state — which could soon need one. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed  this year requiring the Education Department to come up with a statewide plan for helping districts adopt the road map’s guidelines and report on their progress.

This planning process guarantees California will be over a decade into its recovery from the English-only years before the state even considers holding schools accountable for changing their practices. When New York passed a blueprint for how to serve English learners in 2014, it followed it up with new state regulations that same year, creating stricter policies for serving students who were still learning English, including a broader mandate for bilingual education, which had already been required for decades.

Alesha Moreno-Ramirez leads the California Education Department’s multilingual support division. She said state budget limitations have gotten in the way of implementing the English Learner Roadmap and said any call to require bilingual education like Texas or New York would have to come from the Legislature, not the department. “That said, we would enthusiastically support the movement toward requiring bilingual education,” she added.

Advocates caution such a mandate would have to come with enough funding to help districts create high-quality programs, but many agree it would be a win for California students. Children from immigrant families speak , according to the Education Department, but 93% of them speak one of 10. To require bilingual programs, the Legislature would likely tweak the current law, which says if the parents of 30 or more students in a single school request a language acquisition program, the school has to offer it “to the extent possible.” Texas, Illinois and New York have similar laws, but instead of requiring bilingual programs in response to parent advocacy, they do so based solely on enrollment.

Flores thinks the state is at least moving in the right direction. And Madera Unified gives her hope. During her recent visit, she was flooded with memories: She saw the tree she and her friends used to circle while playing “Ring Around the Rosie.” She visited the classroom she walked out of as a 5-year-old, where the walls are now decorated with vocabulary in Spanish as well as English. She suffered in that room 70 years ago. Now, little Mexican girls do not.

“We don’t stop,” she said. “We keep plugging away. That’s our tenacity. That’s our grit. And our motivation, of course, is for our children.”

This was originally published on .

“I’m teaching in a neighborhood that I grew up in,” said Lee. “I’m really a part of this community, like, I have more of an obligation as an educator to really serve the individuals that I’m working with. I think that’s what connected me with families more so it helped me be more involved with other curriculums around the school.” 

This matches the campus mission. Camino Nuevo — “New Way” in English — is a school tailored to its diverse, polyglot community’s needs, but it’s probably better understood with the operational arrow inverted: This is a school that exemplifies and expresses that community and its aspirations.

Its Burlington campus, in Central Los Angeles, is just west of downtown in a vibrant, plural area bursting with linguistic and cultural assets. Lee, a child of , grew up nearby speaking Spanish, English, and (some) Cantonese. The large majority of Camino Nuevo students identify as Latino and come from families where Spanish and/other non-English languages are spoken. 

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Burlington — the flagship campus of Camino Nuevo’s LA charter schools network — would host a pioneering response to California’s persistent shortage of bilingual teachers. After all, Camino Nuevo-Burlington served as a  during California’s 18 years of mandating English-only instruction. Only a small number of schools were able to secure waivers from the policy and keep bilingual education’s fire burning in the state. 

When that mandate was lifted in 2016, schools across the state began the arduous task of returning non-English languages to their campuses. Or, put better, they started working on bringing those languages to the front of classrooms — the linguistic diversity of California’s students had persisted through its decades as an English-only state. In 2023,  spoke a non-English language at home, and the number is much higher . 

At Burlington,  are currently classified as English learners — and that number does not include former English learners who have reached proficiency in English but also speak other, non-English languages. 

Despite this abundant multilingualism, California schools and districts have struggled to regrow their bilingual programs in the past eight years. Asked why they’re struggling to overhaul their English-only classrooms, school leaders here almost universally raise the same challenge : they can’t find enough bilingual teachers. 

Compared to California’s students, . Just 27 percent of California teachers speak a non-English language at home. Over 60 percent of California teachers are white, compared to just 22 percent of California students. 

“Post-pandemic, we realized that we had to do something about this because we had teachers leaving and there were no new teachers coming in,” says Camino Nuevo leader Adriana Abich. 

How can this be? , of all places, to build a bilingual teaching force that reflects the burgeoning linguistic diversity of its student population? 

Above all, it’s because teacher training pipelines and state credentials — in  and in most states — are inflexible, expensive, and largely designed for monolingual teacher candidates. 

“In California, there’s so many layers to becoming a teacher, [particularly] a lot of testing” says Camino Nuevo principal Juliana Santos. “We’ve lost some wonderful, high-quality teachers because they couldn’t pass those tests.”

To get , young adults first need to complete a bachelor’s degree, in a state where  at four-year public colleges and universities, and room and board charges add thousands more. Most candidates then need to enroll in  to get their preliminary teaching license — which often adds tens of thousands of dollars more in cost. 

Teacher candidates must also complete  of student teaching and pass a battery of tests (in English) covering everything from knowledge of the U.S. Constitution to subject matter expertise and pedagogical methods. Further, to be eligible to teach in bilingual classrooms, candidates also need a , which requires extra coursework and successful passage of additional language exams. 

These various requirements often serve as diversity filters, blocking bilingual teacher candidates who cannot easily pay for years of coursework, multiple testing fees, and many months of unpaid student teaching. Even those bilingual candidates who are able to clear these financial obstacles may be filtered out by the necessity of passing multiple teacher credentialing assessments in English — even though there is overwhelming demand for their abilities to work and teach in Spanish or another non-English language. 

Perhaps worst of all, there is little research suggesting that these credential requirements reliably produce higher quality instruction — in English-only or bilingual classrooms — let alone better academic outcomes for students.

Since it couldn’t find the teachers it wanted post-pandemic, Camino Nuevo decided to train its own. Last fall, it partnered with a handful of local schools and Loyola Marymount University’s (LMU) School of Education to launch , with three dedicated residency pathways: bilingual, English-only, and special education.  

“Basically, it’s a program to disrupt the typical approach [to teacher preparation], where you don’t get paid for work. You sit side by side with a master teacher and you learn as a student teacher,” Abich says. “My main thought was, ‘How do we make it work for people of color? How do we make it so that, number one, people are getting a living wage when they come and do a residency with us?’” 

To that end, AVANCE residents’ daily work counts towards their required student teaching hours. Unlike most student teachers, they receive a salary — along with tuition stipends and payments to cover testing fees  — for a   of nearly $50,000. In return, residents work with students alongside  at one of the participating schools’ campuses (their mentors also receive a stipend for their participation). 

While , the University provides scholarships that reduce costs by roughly half — and AVANCE provides an additional scholarship that brings the total cost down to $8,000 (or $10,000, if they are seeking a special education credential). State-sponsored scholarship programs for teachers can further reduce costs, provided that residents go on to spend at least four years in the classroom once they earn their teaching credential. 

During their residency year, AVANCE participants take coursework both online and in person as a cohort, studying trauma-informed pedagogy and weekly coaching sessions to give them practical guidance for their specific roles — in bilingual education and/or special education. “These are our way of saying, ‘this is the reality of the theory you’re hearing about in your classes,” Abich says. “This is the real stuff.” 

To ensure that candidates can get over the state’s testing hurdles for teacher credentials, AVANCE residents also receive free test preparation materials through a partnership with . 

As it launches its second year, it appears that the program’s blend of support and flexibility is meeting its goals. Across the first two cohorts, 97 percent of AVANCE residents identified as BIPOC. Nearly 70 percent of the first cohort are already leveraging their language abilities to launch careers as lead teachers in Camino Nuevo’s bilingual classrooms, and another 24 percent are on track to take on lead roles once they complete their final credential requirements.

In a state starving for bilingual teachers, high-support, low-cost residencies like AVANCE could be a policy camino worth exploring. The key, Abich thinks, is to design these programs with teacher candidates’ specific strengths and challenges in mind. 

In Camino Nuevo’s case, she says, “We were focused on our community. We wanted people from the community to be in those teacher roles.”

Teaching students who speak different languages can be an exciting endeavor that more and more teachers are experiencing. Diversity is an asset, something to be embraced and encouraged. It helps broaden students’ perspectives. Listening to and learning alongside peers from various cultures allows students to feel more connected and capable of navigating the world. When educators feel prepared to teach in such classrooms, they can celebrate this diversity properly while also developing students’ English literacy skills.

Here’s some advice for how teachers can amplify diversity in ways that acknowledge students’ heritage and foster a productive learning environment for everyone.

Check your own biases

Bias is a powerful thing, and it can exist in ways we don’t even realize. The first step in effectively teaching in a language-diverse classroom is understanding and overcoming your own assumptions as an educator.

Do you believe that all children can learn, regardless of their language background, what they look like, and their socioeconomic status? Cognitive research tells us they can—and that canlearn how to read, write, and speak in two or more languages at the same time. But sometimes, teachers find excuses not to believe that: This child’s parents don’t speak English, therefore it will be difficult for them to learn English at school. Their parents aren’t caring/giving/interested in education because they work all the time. Parents don’t read to their child therefore it will be difficult for the child to learn to read. 

Being honest with yourself and checking your biases at the door is critical to ensuring every child’s success.

Honor students’ cultural diversity

Acknowledging and celebrating students’ cultural heritage creates an environment where all students feel welcome—and therefore ready to learn. That means learning how to pronounce each child’s name correctly, building a classroom library that includes books reflecting characters with similar backgrounds and interests, and knowing about their interests and individual lived experiences.

Knowing what’s important to your students and their parents can help foster deep connections. We know from learning science that serotonin and dopamine are important aspects to learning, and those chemicals are more likely to flow in a safe, secure, and welcoming learning environment.

Learn about their heritage languages

Sometimes, teachers think they have to know all of the languages their students speak to be successful. That’s not true. However, learning at least a little bit about each language can help teachers make invaluable connections for their students. And with AI, it’s now easier than ever for teachers to gain this knowledge. You can start by asking an AI engine which letters and letter sounds are the same and which are different when comparing English to a student’s heritage language.

For example, if you know that in Spanish, “ll” makes a “y” sound and “qu” is pronounced as a hard “c,” you can help native Spanish speakers overcome some common hurdles in learning to read and speak in English.

Leverage students’ skills in their heritage language

Children who have grown up learning how to speak another language have already acquired initial literacy skills that can help them learn English—and you can leverage these skills to make the process easier for them. For instance, if you know which letters and letter combinations sound the same in a student’s native language and English, this gives you a natural entry point for helping that child learn English.

Use curriculum tools that follow the science of reading

Regardless of their first language, all children learn to read and write in any language most effectively by following an evidence-based, structured literacy curriculum grounded in the science of reading.

To meet this requirement, the curriculum should begin with phonological awareness activities, followed by systematic, explicit phonics instruction that leads to decoding simple text supporting this instruction. What this means is, if you’re introducing the short “a” sound to students, you should have them practice reading decodable texts that emphasize the short “a” sound. The lessons and activities should build on students’ phonics skills in a logical progression, leading to fluency with increasingly complex texts.

At the same time, students should be developing their vocabulary and learning about syntax and semantics to extract meaning from the text. These five elements—phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension—should be taught together in a structured approach to literacy.

If the curriculum you’re using doesn’t meet these criteria, then you likely need some evidence-based materials to use in your classroom, along with professional learning on implementing the science of reading into instruction. A good place to start is the and the Online Language and Literacy Academy.

Teaching in a language-diverse classroom is an exciting prospect! By following these five strategies, educators can celebrate this diversity and create an environment where all students can learn and thrive.

The nonprofit released its analysis alongside a . Previously, they’ve tracked the racial makeup of teachers as compared to their students; this year, for the first time, they’ve added a new metric: the diversity of the college-educated workforce nationally.

“Comparing teacher diversity to student diversity is meaningful, and it is important for students to see themselves reflected in their teachers,” said Heather Peske, president of the organization known as . “But we also have to make sure that as we’re setting goals for diversifying the workforce, [that] we set goals based on who we can … attract into the teacher workforce right now.” 

Historically, teachers have been slightly more diverse than the population of college-educated working adults, a trend which shifted around 2020. As of the most recently available data, teachers from historically disadvantaged groups make up 22.6% of working-age adults with degrees but 21.1% of the state teacher workforce. 

While the 1.5-point gap may seem small, Peske told ����Ӱ�� that it’s significant and points to what she called a “troubling trend:” increasingly people of color are either choosing other professions or are leaving the classroom. 

“We’re really using [the] dashboard both as a rearview mirror … but also as a way to forecast the possibilities of where we’re going. We worry that the gap could grow larger, and so that’s why we think it’s really important to pay attention to it now,” she said.  

The authors of the NCTQ report hypothesize this points to long-standing issues in the teaching profession, including low pay and status, inequitable hiring and the uncompensated and added responsibilities teachers of color often face — like mentoring or interpreting for families— known as the “invisible tax.”

These numbers also shed light on where in the pipeline the disparity originates, according to Sharif El-Mekki, founder and CEO of the , who also contributed to the report.

“I think sometimes if we’re only looking at the student and teacher parity … there’s a tendency to just be hypnotized by the problem,” he said, “where this analysis that NCTQ was doing through this dashboard actually gives us even more concrete steps to take to inform our planning.”

El-Mekki said it’s not only important to incentivize people of color to become teachers but also to focus on their retention once they enter the classroom — teacher turnover is higher for teachers of color (22%) than white teachers . Black teachers have some of the highest levels of student loan debt, he added, so offering scholarships or debt relief can make a huge difference. 

“We didn’t want our pursuit to rebuild a Black teacher pipeline to be disconnected from the social and economic realities that Black youth may face,” he said, so his organization designed a Black Teacher Pipeline Fellowship, which provides support to educators socially, professionally and financially. They also emphasize the importance of early exposure, offering career and technical education courses to high schoolers who may be interested in becoming teachers later on. 

NCTQ’s new dashboard continues to show a persistent gap in diversity when comparing the teacher workforce to student populations.  The report cites 48.8% of students nationally who come from historically disadvantaged groups vs. 21.1% of teachers who do. That number was actually two percentage points closer in 2014, with 18.3% of teachers and 44.2% of students.

The organization defines historically disadvantaged groups as including all teachers of color except those who identify as Asian. “While Asian people have certainly experienced discrimination in U.S. history, we haven’t seen the effects of discrimination show up in terms of their educational experiences or earnings outcomes. Asian students often outperform white students, and, as a demographic group, are least likely to suffer from a poor education,” an NCTQ spokesperson told ����Ӱ��.

That being said, Asian students are less likely than many of their peers of color to see themselves represented in their teachers’ racial identities. Almost 11% of working-age adults with degrees and 5.4% of students are Asian, yet only 2.2% of the state teacher workforce is.

While the percentage of Black educators largely mirrors the population of working-age Black adults with degrees (both at roughly 9%), the percentage of Black students at 15% is six points greater. 

To El-Mekki that demonstrates that there is an untapped Black teacher potential in the number of Black students who could — and do — choose teaching as a career if and when they get the opportunity to go to college. This allows advocates to then probe a little bit deeper, and focus on how to get more Black youth to and through college, so a larger pool is eligible to join the teacher workforce down the line.

An even starker trend exists for Hispanic teachers: Just over 10% of both working-age adults with degrees and the teacher workforce identify as Latino, while 28% of students do. 

The dashboard also includes more granular analysis at the state level, where researchers explored the racial makeup of teacher preparation programs in order to better understand their contribution to diversity between 2019 and 2021. This serves as a roadmap, Peske said, demonstrating which teacher preparation programs are “leading the way towards a more diverse teacher workforce, and which teacher prep programs may be adding roadblocks to diversity by actually making the workforce more white.” 

Extensive research has pointed to the benefits of a diverse teacher workforce, both for students of color and for white students, according to Constance Lindsay, a and assistant education professor at the University of North Carolina.

“For particular populations, it’s very important to have access to a teacher of color or teachers demographically similar to them.” she said, “I would say, particularly for Black boys, definitely on both the quantitative and qualitative side, it’s been demonstrated many times [that] it’s super important for them.”

Some other research highlights:

• Teachers of color produce additional positive academic, social-emotional and behavioral outcomes for all students, On average, students of all races (in upper-elementary grades) show stronger gains in reading and math when they have a teacher of color. 
  
• Black students in Tennessee randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in kindergarten through third grade are 13% more likely to and 19% more likely to enroll in college compared to their Black schoolmates who were not. Additional data from North Carolina revealed similar findings. For the most disadvantaged Black males, conservative estimates suggest that exposure to a Black teacher in primary school cuts high school dropout rates by almost 40%.
  
• Black students in North Carolina matched to a Black teacher tend to have and are less likely to experience , such as expulsion and suspension.
  
• Black students matched to Black teachers are less likely to be identified for .
  
• Student–teacher race and ethnicity matches were associated with for Latino students in a California high school district.

“We have this rapidly diversifying public school student population that is tomorrow’s workers, citizens, etc,” Lindsay added. “We know that of all of the different things that we’ve tried to do to get rid of achievement gaps, having diverse teachers is … a very efficient and effective intervention.”

Disclosure: Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The Joyce Foundation and Walton Family Foundation provide funding to the National Council on Teacher Quality and ����Ӱ��.

Diversifying the science, technology, engineering and math fields has long been a top priority of and . of the National Science Foundation, the biggest funder of university-led research and development in the U.S.

But there’s another annual observance this month dedicated specifically to celebrating women working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers — while also acknowledging there’s still a long way to go. 

began as a grassroots movement in 2016, started by a group of female meteorologists to celebrate female STEM pioneers, those active in the field and the next generation of female scientists on March 14.

March 14 marks Pi Day, a celebration of the mathematical symbol pi. by physicist Larry Shaw, March 14 was selected because the numerical date represents the first three digits of pi (3.14) — and also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday.  

It wasn’t until 2009 that Pi Day became an official holiday when the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation. But almost 40 years after Pi Day was born, women in STEM and their allies are asking for more diversity in the field.

All it took was a who planned to wear the same purple dress on Pi Day in 2016 and 2017, garnering viral attention as well as the opportunity to drive the Pi Day conversation to the underrepresentation of women in STEM.

This Pi Day (3.14) the ladies at AccuWeather are wearing the same dress to promote more women in STEM: Science Technology Engineering & Math

— Cam Tran WESH (@CamTranTV)

While MIT that the gender gap in STEM careers remains significant, with women accounting for only 28% of the field in 2023, Edutopia that female visibility in the field is increasing, with nearly 58% of young girls drawing a picture of a scientist who looks like them in 2016 — when #DressForSTEM was launched — compared to 1% when the study was first conducted in the 1960s. 

Today, in 2024, #DressForSTEM still stands: Those who participate in the initiative wear purple and create social media posts with the hashtag #DressForSTEM on March 14.

We’ve chosen to go a step further and celebrate by presenting photographic proof of the ongoing contributions women have made to STEM.

In 2020, the Fairfax district in northern Virginia changed its admissions criteria to better reflect the racial makeup of students in the county. Last May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit .

The Supreme Court offered no explanation for its refusal to hear the case. But from Justice Samuel Alito, backed by Justice Clarence Thomas, called the lower court’s ruling in Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board, “a virus that may spread if not promptly eliminated.” 

“What the Fourth Circuit majority held, in essence, is that intentional racial discrimination is constitutional so long as it is not too severe,” Alito wrote. “This reasoning is indefensible, and it cries out for correction.”

The Supreme Court’s earlier ruling against Harvard and the University of North Carolina over affirmative action-based admissions left some districts in limbo over whether K-12 integration efforts based on family income, rather than race, could pass legal muster. Echoing arguments similar to those that Students for Fair Admissions made against affirmative action in higher education, the Fairfax parents said admissions changes at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology make it more difficult for Asian-American students to be accepted. 

Before Fairfax changed its admissions rules, about three-fourths of the school’s students were Asian Americans. District leaders eliminated a rigorous test for applicants and a $100 fee. And they reserved seats at the school for the top 1.5% of 8th graders in each middle school. Coalition for TJ said the new rules were racially biased because the proportion of Asian American students accepted dropped to 54%.

“The Supreme Court missed an important opportunity to end race-based discrimination in K-12 admissions,” Joshua Thompson, a senior attorney with the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a statement Tuesday. The firm represents the Fairfax parents who sued. “Schools should evaluate students as individuals, not as groups based on racial identity.” 

But some integration experts say the court’s decision not to hear the case confirms that using socioeconomic status in admissions is constitutional. Richard Kahlenberg, a fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, called the court’s denial “a victory for poor and working class students of all races.” On behalf of the plaintiffs in the cases against Harvard and UNC, he testified in favor of socioeconomic integration, but said Tuesday that both that earlier opinion and the court’s denial of the TJ case fit with an ongoing public consensus in “support of racial diversity, but in opposition to using racial preferences to get there.”

“The decision of seven justices not to hear the case makes good sense because for three decades, even the most conservative justices have been urging educational institutions to use precisely the kind of race-neutral strategies that Thomas Jefferson High School employed,” he said. 

Supporters of the admissions changes note the current , 3.9, is higher than it was under the previous policy.

“We have long believed that the new admissions process is both constitutional and in the best interest of all of our students,” Karl Frisch, chair of the district’s board, said in a statement. “It guarantees that all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school.”

The ‘best public schools’

The Supreme Court’s denial of the TJ appeal is the second blow in three months to Pacific Legal’s efforts to curb what it sees as discrimination against white and Asian American students in K-12. In December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled against the firm’s clients in a similar case over selective schools in .��

Following the opinion’s release, Erin Wilcox, another Pacific Legal attorney, said it was disappointing that just six months after the court’s affirmative action ruling, “the First Circuit held … that it’s perfectly legal for Boston to use racial proxies to determine who is admitted to some of its best public schools.”

Pacific Legal plans to go back to the High Court in the next few weeks to ask the justices to examine many of the same issues it objected to in the TJ case. 

But Stefan Lallinger, executive director at Next100, a progressive think tank affiliated with The Century Foundation, called the First Circuit’s decision “a shot in the arm to districts that understand the value of diversity,” but were left “confused or worse, afraid, to take bold and affirmative steps” after the Supreme Court’s opinion on Harvard and UNC.

The Boston Public Schools made changes similar to those in Fairfax. The district replaced a merit-based admissions policy for its exclusive “exam” schools with one that drew students with high GPAs from all ZIP codes. (The system was later changed to reflect — small geographic areas within a county.) 

The Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence Corp., a nonprofit, sued last year over the policy change, which has led to more Black and Hispanic students attending the schools.

Pacific Legal is also representing plaintiffs suing over criteria for entrance to highly competitive schools in , and . And in January, the firm filed on behalf of a group of New York parents over a statewide that prepares students to study STEM fields in college. The plaintiffs argue that the criteria favors Black, Hispanic, Alaskan Native and American Indian students regardless of their family’s income.

In Philadelphia, the American First Legal Foundation, another conservative law firm, after the district dropped merit-based application requirements, such as recommendation letters, attendance and test scores, for competitive schools. District leaders moved to in which students from certain ZIP codes receive preference. The system targets neighborhoods with the lowest representation of students who previously accepted offers to attend those schools.��

The case is currently pending in federal district court.

Keynote speakers this year include of Harlem Children’s Zone, of Stanford University, who popularized the idea of “growth mindset,” and actor , who starred on Broadway as George Washington in Hamilton. Jackson, who has a child on the autism spectrum, will discuss how doctors, parents and advocates are working together to change the ways neurodivergent kids communicate and learn.

But one issue that looms larger than most in the imaginations of educators is artificial intelligence. This year, South by Southwest EDU is offering dozens of sessions exploring AI’s potential and pitfalls. To help guide the way, we’ve scoured the schedule to highlight 18 of the most significant presenters, topics and panels: 

Monday, March 4:

: The New School’s Maya Georgieva looks at how AI is ushering in a new era of immersive experiences. Her talk explores worlds that blur the lines between the virtual and real, where human ingenuity converges with intelligent machines. Georgieva will spotlight the next generation of creators shaping immersive realities, sharing emerging practices and projects from her students as well as her innovation labs and design jams. .

: Educators have long sought a better way to demonstrate learning, adapt instruction and build student confidence. Now, advancements in machine learning, natural language processing and data analytics are creating new possibilities for finding out what students know. This session will explore the ways in which AI is rendering assessments invisible, reducing stress and anxiety for students while improving objectivity and generating actionable insights for educators. .

: Many high-pressure professions — pilots, doctors and professional athletes among others — have access to high-quality simulators to help them learn and improve their skills. Could teachers benefit from hours in a simulator before setting foot in a classroom? In this session featuring presenters from the Relay Graduate School of Education and Wharton Interactive at the University of Pennsylvania, panelists will discuss virtual classrooms they’re piloting. They’ll also address the challenges, successes and possibilities of developing an AI-driven teaching simulator. .

: In just the first half of 2023, venture capital investors poured more than $40 billion into AI startups. Yet big questions loom about how these technologies may impact education and the world of work. How are education and workforce investors separating wheat from chaff? Hear from a trio of venture capital and impact investors as they share the trends they’re watching. .

: This session will look at the profound transformations in teaching taking place in classrooms that blend AI with tailored, competency-focused education. Laura Jeanne Penrod of Southwest Career and Technical Academy and Nevada’s 2024 will explore AI’s role in enhancing rather than supplanting quality teaching — and what happens when schools embrace the human touch and educators’ emotional intelligence. .

: In this interactive workshop led by women leaders from the University of Texas at Austin and the Waco (Texas) Independent School District, participants will learn how to design effective lesson plans and syllabi that incorporate AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E to help prepare students to address society’s most pressing needs. .

: If we get AI in education right, it has the power to revolutionize how children learn. But if we get it wrong and fail to nourish children’s creativity — their ability to innovate, think critically and problem solve — we risk leaving them unprepared for a changing world. Creativity is the durable skill that AI cannot replace. And this panel, comprising educators and industry leaders, will explore the role we play in nurturing children’s innate creativity. .

: This panel, featuring early AI-in-education pioneers such as Amanda Bickerstaff, founder of AI for Education, Charles Foster, an AI researcher at Finetune Learning, and Ben Kornell,  co-founder of Edtech Insiders, will explore their journeys and what they consider the most exciting future opportunities — and important challenges — in this emerging space. .

Tuesday, March 5:

: AI’s continued adoption in schools raises concerns about bias, especially toward students of color. This session, hosted by Common Sense Education’s Jamie Nunez, will highlight practical ways AI tools impact engagement for students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. It will also address ethical concerns such as plagiarism and issues with facial recognition tools. And it will feature positive student experiences with AI and practical ways to ensure it remains inclusive. .

: In 2024, what defines “AI literacy”? And how can we promote it effectively in schools? Marc Cicchino, innovation director for the Northern Valley Regional High School District in northeastern New Jersey, shares insights on fostering AI literacy through tailored learning experiences and initiatives like the NJ AI Literacy Summit. As part of the session, Cicchino guides attendees through organizing their own summit. . 

: Come watch a live recording of The Cusp, a new podcast hosted by Work Shift’s Paul Fain, exploring AI’s potential to not only enhance how we develop skills and improve job quality but exacerbate inequalities in our education and workforce systems. Leaders from Learning Collider, MDRC and Burning Glass Institute will share their perspectives on how AI can reach learners and workers in innovative ways, bridging the gap to economic opportunity. .

: While a few school districts have embraced artificial intelligence, neither the technology companies creating the AI nor the governments regulating it have provided guidance on how to integrate the new tech into classrooms. This has left districts wondering how to integrate AI safely, ethically and equitably. This panel of TeachAI.org founders and advisory members will discuss why government and education leaders must align standards with the needs of an increasingly AI-driven world. The panel features Khan Academy’s Kristen DiCerbo, Kara McWilliams of ETS, Code.org and ISTE’s Joseph South. .

Wednesday, March 6:

: Just as artificial intelligence is gaining momentum in education, the early childhood education workforce is experiencing record levels of burnout. A recent survey found many educators say they’re more likely to remain in their roles if they have access to better support, including high-quality classroom tools and flexible professional development. Could we harness AI to empower our early childhood workforce? This panel, led by the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Stanford Accelerator for Learning, will explore the possibilities and challenges of AI in early childhood education. .

Perhaps no one in education needs to adapt more to AI than principals. This discussion with a principal and consultants from IDEO, The Leadership Academy and the Aspen Institute will explore how principals can lead during this time of swift change. Participants will come away with tangible suggestions for fostering innovation, adaptability and self-awareness. .

: This interactive session will give educators an opportunity to explore how they might use AI to advance their work, regardless of their background or technical expertise. ​Led by project managers and leadership development specialists with Teach For America, it will help participants create their own AI tools, build a deeper understanding of generative AI and develop a better sense of its promises and risks. .

Thursday, March 7: 

: This panel discussion, led by The Education Trust’s Dia Bryant and Khan Academy’s Kristen DiCerbo, will look at whether emerging uses of AI in schools could create a new digital divide. It will explore the intersection of AI and education equity and AI’s impact on students of color, as well as those from low-income backgrounds. The session will offer steps that educators and policymakers can take to ensure that schools factor in the culture and neurodiversity of students. . 

: This session, led by Alex Tsado of Alliance4ai, will explore what’s required to engage diverse learners to become emerging AI leaders. It’ll also explore how educators can help them build tech and leadership skills and promote an “AI-for-good” worldview. And it’ll examine the challenges that Black communities face in AI development — and propose research and solutions that can be scaled easily. .

: This panel brings together of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology and Jeremy of Digital Promise for an interactive conversation about generative AI that will integrate two distinctive and powerful vantage points — policy and research. They’ll reflect on the listening sessions they’ve conducted, talk about policy and share insights from major research initiatives that address the efficacy, equity and ethics of generative AI. .