Ruling limits Trump administration’s attempted crackdown on diversity programs in schools

FILE Students work in a classroom at St HOPE s Constituents School Elementary in Sacramento on May Miguel Gutierrez Jr CalMatters California K- schools got a reprieve last week when a judge blocked the Trump administration s order to eliminate diversity programs or liability losing federal funding New Hampshire Judge Landya McCafferty mentioned Trump s order didn t sufficiently define diversity equity and inclusion or DEI limited free speech and went beyond his authority The Trump administration is likely to appeal the ruling but for now it means that the federal cabinet must continue to fund special development after-school programs services for low-income students and other federal programs The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Mentoring Association the country s largest teachers union They alleged that Trump s DEI order was overly vague and would cause undue harm to students California had responded to the order by saying its schools were already in compliance with civil rights laws We are grateful for in the current era s ruling which protects California students and educators continuous access to the educational support that have been allocated to them by Congress explained Elizabeth Sanders spokeswoman for the California Department of Training In California we will continue to focus on providing opportunities for our students not taking materials from them California joined about a dozen states in pushing back against the order Separately the Trump administration announced it would withhold federal K- money to Maine over its protections for transgender students and is examining California over the same issue McCafferty s ruling only applied to schools that have at least one staff person who belongs to the National Instruction Association which is nearly all schools in California Politics and Title I California receives billion in federal Title I money for low-income schools about billion for special guidance million for after-school programs and millions more in grants for career coaching school meals and other programs The Trump administration noted they didn t intend to cut special teaching funding but Title I and other programs were potentially at exposure In the current wobbly economic circumstances it s doubtful that the state would be able to backfill the lost revenue and those programs would almost certainly face steep cuts if not total elimination Trump is not the first president to threaten to withhold Title I funds the largest piece of federal K- money Not long after Congress created Title I in President Lyndon Johnson threatened to withhold it from schools in the South that refused to desegregate Other presidents have occasionally threatened to withhold federal funds to schools although none have authentically done it announced Sarah Reber a senior fellow in economics strategy at the Brookings Institution It s not peculiar to have Title I get caught up in controversies but it s never over the value of Title I itself Reber mentioned It s usually over a broader political issue Nearly every district in California gets chosen Title I funding which schools use to hire tutors and aides reduce class sizes and purchase books and other materials The authorities requires that schools use the money to help low-income students who typically don t perform as well academically as their peers The money goes from the federal leadership to the state to school districts which distribute it to schools that have a certain percentage of low-income students The amount of money has mostly been stable year to year although during the pandemic the ruling body gave schools billions more money in COVID relief grants based on the Title I formula Losing Title I money now would be especially laborious for schools as their urgency pandemic grants are expiring and states are experiencing budget uncertainties Reber explained After-school and summer programs Another critical portion of federal K- funding is the st Century Public Learning Centers which funds after-school and summer programs In California the money supplements the state s contributions to those programs and is the only source of funding for high school after-school programs such as learner authorities or homework help Without st Century grants those programs would be wiped out stated Heather Williams director of strategy and outreach for the California AfterSchool Structure Until federal funding was the primary source of assistance for after-school programs and offerings were scant But Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov Gavin Newsom both championed the feasible for after-school activities as a safe place where children could get healthy snacks tutoring and a gamut of enrichment events During the pandemic California created the Expanded Learning Opportunities Offerings which last year distributed billion to elementary schools Although after-school programs have garnered bipartisan backing Williams is wary of the current administration During Trump s first term he tried to cut st Century grants all four years but was thwarted by Congress We ve known for a long time that after school programs are essential Williams declared But right now it seems people are caught up in a broader political argument that overlooks the value of actual programs CalMatters is a citizens interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California s state Capitol works and why it matters