Category: Federal Government Actions

USDE Launches EndDEI.Ed.Gov Portal for Reporting Discrimination (February 28, 2025)

On February 27, 2025 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) opened an online submission tool to collect reports of discrimination based on race or sex in public K-12 schools. EndDEI.Ed.Gov is a public portal for parents, students, teachers and the general public to alert the agency of ”illegal discriminatory practices.” According to a statement on the portal’s website, the USDE “is committed to ensuring all students have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination.” and people can provide an email address, the name of a school or school district, and details about concerning practices.

The information collection tool is part of the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate practices for diversity, equity and inclusion.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

$600M in USDE Cuts Target Teacher Training Grants (February 26, 2025)

A February 17, 2025 U.S. Department of Education (USDE) $600 million cut in “divisive” teacher training grants will do great harm to partnerships that support the teacher pipeline. Despite teacher shortages across the country, the cost-cutting measures led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will significantly hamper efforts to staff schools. Two of the most common federal grant programs impacted so far are the Teacher Quality Partnership Program and the Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant, targeting funds to institutions and nonprofits that were using training materials on topics such as critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion. The department added that “many of these grants included teacher and staff recruiting strategies implicitly and explicitly based on race.”

DOGE has reported this week that the USDE is leading among other federal agencies for the most savings in total funding cuts.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Gov. Shapiro Provides Update: All Federal Funding Identified at the Filing of Lawsuit are Unfrozen (February 24, 2025)

Today, February 24, 2025, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that all $2.1 billion in Congressionally-appropriated federal funding owed to Pennsylvania identified at the time of filing his lawsuit against the Trump Administration has been unfrozen. As a result of the Governor’s lawsuit – and direct pressure on and engagement with the Trump Administration – federal funding is once again accessible to Pennsylvania state agencies.

See below for the Governor’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon.

Less than two weeks ago, my Office filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s illegal freeze of federal funding because of its direct impact on Pennsylvania state government and our work to serve the good people of our Commonwealth.

On the day we filed, at least $2.1 billion in federal funding that had been appropriated by Congress and obligated by the federal government to our state agencies was frozen or placed in an undefined review. 

That included funding to prevent sinkholes and make abandoned mines safe…

Funding to plug abandoned wells leaking toxic chemicals into our communities… 

…and funding to reduce energy costs for homeowners and ensure the water flowing to Pennsylvanians’ faucets is clean and pure. 

Today, I’m here to provide an update on where things stand. 

As a result of our lawsuit – and our continued pressure on and engagement with the Trump Administration… 

In which we demanded the Administration comply with the legal injunctions currently in place and made clear that we were ready to seek immediate relief from the courts…

…every dollar we identified at the filing of our lawsuit is currently unfrozen and once again accessible to Pennsylvania state agencies, in accordance with legal injunctions currently in place.

With the funding restored, we will now resume critical programs and infrastructure projects that have been jeopardized by this illegal freeze. 

There are some who questioned why we would sue the federal government in this matter.

As I said at the time, legal action was not my first choice – and in fact, after the funding freeze first went into effect in late January, we actively engaged with our Republican Congressional delegation, led by Senator McCormick, and the Trump Administration to get these funds unfrozen. 

We saw some progress, but despite those efforts – and multiple court orders to release the federal funding – billions of dollars owed to Pennsylvania remained tied up weeks later.

That’s why we sought and received delegation from the Office of Attorney General to represent my Office and affected state agencies in this litigation.

Look, you don’t need to be the former Attorney General – or even a lawyer – to get this.

This is basic stuff. Kids learn this in grade school. It’s how our Constitution works.

Congress passed laws that committed billions of dollars to the states for serious needs. The president signed those bills into law. 

Then, the federal government entered into agreements with state government agencies to get those dollars out into people’s communities.

Those agreements are binding.

To put it simply: a deal is a deal.

The Trump Administration is legally required to provide these funds.

That is why I took legal action.

But we can walk and chew gum at the same time. 

So even after we filed our lawsuit 11 days ago, my team and I continued to engage the Department of Justice and Trump Administration directly.

When I was at the White House on Friday, I repeatedly brought up our frozen federal funding to President Trump’s senior team and cabinet. 

I urged them to follow the law and honor their agreements with Pennsylvania. 

As a result of that direct engagement, our funding is unfrozen, they are now following the law, and we will continue to press our case.  

For now, thanks to this federal funding flowing to our agencies once again, we can resume important work for the good people of Pennsylvania without subjecting Pennsylvanians to the risk that the Commonwealth would receive a bill for work that should’ve been paid for by the federal government. 

Work that includes plugging orphaned and abandoned wells – and creating good-paying jobs in the process.

Work to clean up our waterways, help our farmers deal with runoff that leads into the Chesapeake Bay, and ensure Pennsylvanians have clean water when they turn on the tap.

Work to repair abandoned mines before they turn into sinkholes and endanger people’s homes and businesses so we can prevent another tragedy like what we saw in Westmoreland County in December.

Pennsylvania is home to more abandoned mines than any other state in the country – and we still have 140,000 acres that need to be fixed. 

We’re resuming work to reduce utility bills for consumers and make sure rural communities have reliable access to electricity.

As a result of the freeze, several ongoing projects in the western part of our Commonwealth – employing dozens of Pennsylvanians – had stopped work.

These folks can now get back on the job, knowing their Governor will continue to have their back. 

As Governor, it’s my job to protect Pennsylvania’s interests – and I will use every tool at my disposal, from legal action to my direct engagement to make sure Pennsylvanians are protected… 

…and the funds that Pennsylvanians rely on every day – the funds that Pennsylvanians pay in federal taxes…

…make their way back to our Commonwealth and we receive every federal dollar we’re owed.

Thank you.

U.S. Ed. Sec. Nominee Linda McMahon Moves Closer to Confirmation, Would Move Sp. Ed. to Another Agency (February 22, 2025)

On Thursday, February 20, 2025. Linda McMahon’s nomination for U.S. Secretary of Education advanced with the approval of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which voted 12-11 along party lines.

McMahon previously appeared before the committee February 13th for a 2 ½ hour confirmation hearing where she spoke of her priorities for expanding school choice and skills-based learning, providing more decision-making power to local schools and parents, and protecting students from discrimination and harassment. 

McMahon also talked about her openness to making sweeping changes at the U.S. Department of Education, including moving programs like special education oversight and civil rights investigations to other federal agencies. In fact, she said that special education could be housed in other agencies that do not oversee education matters, like the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which will be led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

McMahon formerly served as administrator of the Small Business Administration for two years in President Donald Trump’s first administration. She was previously president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. She has no degree in education and has never taught in a classroom.

A full Senate vote on McMahon’s confirmation is forthcoming.

Click here for a video of the February 13th hearing.

Source: Higher Ed. Dive

DCL from OCR Gives Schools Two Weeks to Eliminate Race-based Programs (February 19, 2025)

On February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Acting Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to colleges, universities, and Pre-K-12 schools informing them that they had two weeks to comply with a new U.S. Department of Education (USDE) requirement to eliminate race-based practices for admissions, hiring, and other programming. Schools that fail to comply with the DCL are at risk of losing federal funding.

The four-page letter stated that in recent years schools have “discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families.” It went on to say, “These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia.”

The letter follows up an Executive Order to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in schools and at the USDE itself, and cites legal requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause

Exactly how pre-K-12 schools should comply to the DCL is causing confusion, since it seems unclear as to what the directive actually means. One viewpoint is that in a broad sense schools are not allowed to have race-aligned student affinity groups or celebrations of different races and ethnicities. Another viewpoint is that the directive is limited to race-based practices in school admissions, as they apply to school choice programs, and in workforce hiring and promotions. As has often been the case, it is likely that the former (broader) viewpoint is the actual intent and that it may be narrowed down as enforcement occurs and challenges arise.

It is also possible that, according to the DCL, there will be additional legal guidance from OCR. Although that still leaves schools in a “gray” area and a potentially tenuous situation, the letter states that in the meantime schools should be aware that “relying on non-racial information as a proxy for race, and making decisions based on that information, violates the law.”

As a follow-up, on February 18, 2025 in a USDE statement Trainor said, “For decades, schools have been operating on the pretext that selecting students for ‘diversity’ or similar euphemisms is not selecting them based on race. No longer.” “Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment, and character — not prejudged by the color of their skin.” In addition, he said that schools have been notified that they can’t use race preferences or stereotypes “as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline, and beyond.”

Noting that in his estimation the directive is not complicated, Trainor advised that, if unsure, schools should use a “test” provided in the DCL which states, “If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.”

Lastly, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary office charged by President Donald Trump to eliminate federal waste, said on social media that the letter means states have ”14 days to remove all DEI programming in all public schools.” Noncompliance could result in a loss of federal funding.

NOTE: The OCR letter specifically refers to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that struck down race-conscious college admissions practices. At the K-12 level, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear oral arguments in two race-based admissions challenges: Boston Parent Coalition For Academic Excellence Corp. v. The School Committee for the City of Boston and TJ v. Fairfax County School Board.

To access the DCL click here.

Source: K-12 Dive.