Overview:
The U.S. Department of Education has terminated over $600 million in grants for teacher training programs that included Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and other equity-focused initiatives, aligning with broader Trump administration policies to end any type of inclusion.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the termination of more than $600 million in grants previously awarded to institutions and nonprofit organizations for teacher training programs. The catastrophic decision affects funding that supported initiatives to prepare future educators and education agencies with professional development and training on various educational frameworks and teaching strategies focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“The U.S. Department of Education today announced it has terminated over $600 million in grants to institutions and nonprofits that were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies,” the press release read. “Training materials included inappropriate and unnecessary topics such as Critical Race Theory; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); social justice activism; “anti-racism”; and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy.”
This move comes after the Trump administration signed several executive orders that target transgender students in girls’ and women’s sports and education research in an attempt to target race-based decisions in K-16 education. This includes the groundbreaking lawsuit Texas v. Becerra, which looks to eliminate 504 protections in 17 states.
According to the Department’s press release, the affected grants funded training materials and programs that included Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), social justice activism, and anti-racism. Some of the training also covered concepts related to systemic inequities, cultural competence, and addressing forms of discrimination such as racism, ableism, and gender-based bias.
The grants in question were designated for teacher preparation programs that equip educators with skills and knowledge for classroom instruction. However, according to the Department of Education, examples from the grant applications included:
- Providing “targeted practices in culturally relevant and responsive teaching abolitionist pedagogies and issues of diversity in classroom management”; and
- Requiring practitioners to take personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities (e.g., racism) and critically reassess their own practices;
- Receiving professional development workshops and equity training on topics such as “Building Cultural Competence,” “Dismantling Racial Bias” and “Centering Equity in the Classroom”;
- Acknowledging and responding to systemic forms of oppression and inequity, including racism, ableism, “gender-based” discrimination, homophobia, and ageism;
- Building historical and sociopolitical understandings of race and racism to interrupt racial marginalization and oppression of students in planning instruction relationship building discipline and assessment;
Supporters of these initiatives argue that such training is essential for fostering inclusive learning environments and equipping educators to meet the needs of diverse student populations, but they are disappointed in the targeting that these cancellations of grants bring to Black Americans.
“The Department of Education’s decision to cancel grants that support the recruitment of Black teachers as well as training on teaching Black history, and American history more accurately, is a significant step towards making Justice Roger Taney’s words a reality; that Black people have no rights white people are bound to respect,” said Journalist Rann Miller. “Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Trump Administration’s policy decisions continue this nation’s history of anti-Black racism done systematically. What the administration fails to calculate, however, is the resolve of Black people in the face of this public policy terrorism. What Trump voters fail to calculate is that, in the words of President Lyndon Johnson, their pockets keep getting picked.”
The Department of Education’s decision aligns with broader policy shifts regarding federal funding priorities in education during the Trump administration. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump portrayed schools as a political battlefield that needed reclaiming from the left. Now, having secured the White House, he has promised to use federal funding as a tool to promote his educational vision nationwide.
