Maryland school districts try workaround to Trump order to cut DEI, but judge makes it moot for now

 In The Baltimore Sun, reporters Bridget Byrne and Mary Carole McCauley. Full story here.

Maryland schools will not be required to sign a certification of compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s demand to cut diversity, equity and inclusion — for now — but had planned a workaround to avoid signing anyway.

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s mandate against DEI efforts in public schools, which they argue is as illegal based on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

In February, the Department of Education sent a letter to state department of education demanding schools remove DEI from “all aspects of student life” or lose all federal funding. This year, the Maryland State Department of Education received a total of $285.6 million in federal funds.

That letter was followed up on April 3 with a letter insisting all local school superintendents sign the certification, setting a deadline to return the document by Thursday.

While other states, including Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Wisconsin, refused to sign the certification point-blank, Maryland’s Department of Education was considering returning an alternative certification.

In an April 7 memo obtained by The Baltimore Sun, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright asked local superintendents to sign an alternative certification, hoping it will allow them to retain federal funding without dismantling DEI programs.

State officials revised the certification to say only that school districts are in “full compliance” with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and do not discriminate based on “race, color and national origin.”

The federal government’s proposed certification letter goes further than Wright’s alternative.