February 2025

Vol. 3 Issue 3

Three days ago, on February 14, 2025, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S Department of Education sent a letter to the departments of education in all 50 states, condemning what it describes as unconstitutional “overt and covert racial discrimination in K-12 schools and universities, particularly under the banner of DEI policies."

The Epoch Times, 2/15/25, "Education Department Tells States to End DEI in Schools or Risk Federal Funding"

Invoking the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), the letter points put that this decision "sets forth a framework for evaluating the use of race by state actors and entities covered by Title VI."

The letter specifically criticizes practices such as discriminating against white and Asian students, promoting ideas including that the United States was built on systemic racism, and encouraging segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in student housing. Such practices, the letter states, will no longer be tolerated.

“The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”

“At its core, the test is simple: 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. Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life."

The letter accords all such institutions 14 days to comply. "All educational institutions are advised to:

1. ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law;
2. cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and
3. cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.

Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding."

What's the Right Thing to Do?

Is Teaching "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (DEI) good for our students?

The Howard County Board of Education continues to expand the reach of DEI into every facet of the educational system, most recently through the revision of Policy 7000, Workforce Diversity and Inclusion, creating what amounts to a quota requirement in hiring.  Meanwhile, pursuant to the Executive Order issued by the new President of the United States, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Education has issued the 'Dear Colleague' letter discussed above, requiring all state Departments of Education to eliminate DEI from K-12 schools and universities or risk loss of federal funding.

Should Maryland comply, or is the State willing to lose its federal education funding? 

Should local school systems comply regardless of what the State does?

Let’s think about this. For years, the Maryland General Assembly has passed laws ordering the local boards of education to embed DEI into every facet of their departments. The left-wing legislature and media have engaged in a concerted campaign to persuade Marylanders that “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” are the passwords to the future.  They somehow have convinced us that DEI is the only protection minorities have against the ‘systemic racism’ inherent in America. 

Any yet, if you actually see what this programming teaches, you find that it is those who endorse DEI who are perpetuating racism. 

(1)    The program asserts that every minority has an inherent disadvantage that can only be compensated for by providing special classes, organizations, awards and other advantages. If you are a minority, how does that make you feel? What underlies the left-wing agenda for helping minorities is the unspoken belief that minorities cannot succeed without their help. Although individual students no doubt benefit from extra help and attention, this presumptive program embracing all minorities and excluding non-minorities is never analyzed statistically or paired with statistical data regarding the harm it does to some of those students as well as to the students who are not part of a minority. DEI simply asserts benefits because the words sound right.

(2) DEI’s approach to gender diversity insists that the gender identity of students must be both determined and acknowledged and that transgender youths must be allowed to function in the gender of their choice. This has created a great deal of harm. Biological girls have seen their years of work and dreams of success in sports destroyed by the participation of biological men. And students who are told that they really can change their sex are devastated when they face the real consequences of body-altering drugs and surgery. The claim that it is dangerous to refuse to acknowledge a young person’s gender identity is heavily outweighed by the enormous body of evidence proving the opposite.

(3) The claim that America has made little to no progress addressing discrimination is provably wrong, and obvious to anyone who studies our history – all of our history, both good and bad.  The claim that the Reverend Doctor Martin King’s powerful “I Have A Dream” movement embraces DEI is ludicrous. His dream was “ that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Instead, DEI has chosen the opposite path: judging everyone solely by the color of their skin.

(4)    But the most unforgivable harm DEI perpetrates upon our young people is fostering racial hatred, distrust and division. Identifying and treating every student not as an individual but as part of a group is racial stereotyping. It robs students of their individuality and creates resentments toward the “favored” groups. Children know unfairness when they see it, and playing favorites among student groups regardless of the talent, ability or needs of any individual in the group is patently unfair. 

(5)    And finally, every hour – every minute – spent on DEI is an hour or minute less of learning, as reading and math scores hit an all-time low. 

For too long, DEI has prioritized divisive identity politics over education; it’s time to put an end to it. President Trump’s executive orders eliminating DEI programs in education mark a crucial step toward restoring a focus on academic achievement and ensure much-needed clarity and accountability, empowering schools to prioritize student success without imposing radical ideologies.