Maine’s education leaders say they won’t sign an agreement with the Trump administration to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools and colleges, and are telling local schools not to respond to the federal government’s demands.
The state’s Department of Education sent a letter Thursday to the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in response to an April 3 notice demanding that state education agencies and local school districts sign new “certifications” that they are in compliance with Title VI by eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Title VI is a 1964 civil rights law that bars discrimination in public education based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. The Trump administration argues that DEI policies are a violation of that federal law. The DOE’s civil rights office sent a letter to states demanding that they guarantee no public schools have DEI programs the Trump administration deems illegal — or lose billions of dollars in federal education funding.
