The state of New York is refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s demands to end DEI practices in public schools despite its threats to terminate federal education funding.
On Friday (April 4), Daniel Morton-Bentley, counsel and deputy commissioner of the state Department of Education, sent a letter to Trump’s Education Department, saying state officials don’t believe the agency has the authority to prohibit DEI, per the Associated Press.
“We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion,’” Morton-Bentley wrote. “But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”
Morton-Bentley also noted that officials were “unaware” of the federal agency’s authority to demand that states agree with its interpretation of court decisions without a formal administrative process.
Morton-Bentley’s letter comes after the Trump administration issued an order on Thursday (April 3) giving schools 10 days to certify that they are following federal civil rights laws and end any discriminatory DEI practices. Schools that fail to do so risk losing federal funding, the Trump administration said.
“Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement.
On Thursday, the Trump administration also asked state officials to sign a “reminder of legal obligations” acknowledging that federal money is reliant on compliance with federal civil rights laws.
Morton-Bentley wrote in Friday’s letter that his state’s Education Department had previously certified that it is complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including earlier this year. The New York state official noted that the federal department is basing demands to end DEI programs on faulty legal interpretation.
“Given the fact that you are already in possession of guarantees by NYSED that it has and will comply with Title VI, no further certification will be forthcoming,” he wrote.
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