(The Center Square) – A newly released report details thousands of schools that embrace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.
President Donald Trump’s recent executive order means those schools must drop the policies or face losing federal funding.
Parents Defending Education, a parental rights education group, reported it has so far found 21,232 schools implementing DEI across 610 school districts in 46 states and the District of Columbia affecting more than 13 million students.
It’s unclear how many districts may have ended the policies this week in response to Trump’s order but have not yet publicly posted or updated their documents and websites. Some schools may have updated their policies since PDE found the DEI pledges and policies in recent years.
Regardless, the report shows codified DEI policies have become widespread in school districts around the country.
According to an official warning last week from the Department of Education, schools that don’t end their DEI policies could lose federal funding.
“In recent years, American educational institutions 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,” Education Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, essentially putting schools on notice. “These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia.
“Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding,” he added.
PDE documented an extensive list of schools that “implement diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through policy, strategic plans, or practice in general.”
The group has documents to prove it, linking in its report to online diversity statements or documents showing the DEI emphasis or policies in each school district.
PDE has only documented a handful of school districts in some states. For instance, Arkansas has one school district pushing DEI, Alabama has four, and Louisiana has two.
Meanwhile, California has at least 390 districts using DEI, according to PDE.
“The Department intends to take appropriate measures to assess compliance with the applicable statutes and regulations based on the understanding embodied in this letter beginning no later than 14 days from today’s date, including antidiscrimination requirements that are a condition of receiving federal funding,” reads Trainor’s letter, dated Feb. 14 of this year.