Education Department cuts $350M from diversity programs nationwide

Daily Report February 17,2025

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The Department of Education has begun implementing significant cuts to DEI programming following President Trump’s recent ultimatum demanding federally funded educational institutions eliminate such programs within 14 days or lose federal funding.

Investigative journalist Chris Rufo exposed concerning content from the Department of Education on Thursday through social media platform X, revealing what he described as “a trove of insane videos, slides and documents from the Department of Education. The whole department functions like a Ponzi scheme for left-wing ideologies”

“EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Education granted $8 million to this left-wing NGO, which promotes the idea that America is a white supremacist society and demands that you must ‘disrupt your whiteness.'”

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This organization provides guidance to 7,000 school districts across the Midwest region. Last year, the Department collaborated with “Welcoming Schools,” an organization teaching elementary students about concepts like pansexuality, alternative pronouns, and non-binary identities in nature.

“There are many ways to be a girl, boy, both, or neither.”

The department funded educational resources suggesting black students must undergo “decolonizing the mind” from concepts like whiteness, capitalism, and individualism. These materials also stated that white individuals, particularly those against “woke” ideology, cannot accuse BIPOC individuals of racism.

The Department of Education announced substantial funding cuts on Friday, stating:

“Today, the U.S. Department of Education canceled over $350 million in contracts and grants to several Regional Educational Laboratories and Equity Assistance Centers.

The Department terminated 10 contracts totaling $336 million with the Regional Educational Laboratories, the purpose of which are supposed to support applied research, development, and technical assistance activities; however, review of the contracts uncovered wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers. For example, the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest has been advising schools in Ohio to undertake ‘equity audits’ and equity conversations. The Department plans to enter into new contracts that will satisfy the statutory requirements, improve student learning, and better serve school districts, State Departments of Education, and other education stakeholders.

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The Department also terminated grants to four Equity Assistance Centers totaling $33 million, which supported divisive training in DEI, Critical Race Theory, and gender identity for state and local education agencies as well as school boards.”

The Institute of Education Sciences claims that Regional Educational Laboratories work with educators nationwide to enhance educational outcomes. They state, “RELs collaborate with state departments of education, school district leaders and classroom educators, and other education stakeholders to address their most pressing problems of education policy and practice. Our work includes high-quality applied research; training, coaching, and technical support to educators and policymakers; and sharing information about ‘what works’ to improve learner outcomes.”

Despite IES’s claims of being “research-based, neutral, fair, and non-partisan,” their practices suggest otherwise. The organization promotes Gloria Ladsen-Billings’ Cultural Responsive Pedagogy, which critics say incorporates Marxist frameworks focusing on oppressor-oppressed relationships and encouraging students to develop awareness of their perceived oppression.

The Regional Educational Libraries, operating under IES and the Department of Education, continue to promote these theoretical approaches in education.