Late in the evening on February 14th, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOG) account on X.com, tweeted "This letter was sent to the departments of education in all 50 states, notifying them they have 14 days to remove all DEI programming in all public schools. Institutions which fail to comply may face a loss of federal funding. "
The letter, linked below, sent from the Acting Assistant Secretary, United Statess Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights was reportedly sent to the Departments of Education in all states.
https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf
The letter has some noteworthy provisions and assertions:
The concept of "“systemic and structural racism”, is rebuked by the DOE. This likely generate a loud counter-reponse at many Universities, particularly with law schools incorporating critical-justice theory as a cornerstone of their curriculum and scholarship.
Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise
that the United States is built upon “systemic and structural racism” and advanced
discriminatory policies and practices.
Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs are specifically catergorized as discrimantory.
Other programs discriminate in less direct, but equally insidious, ways. DEI programs,
for example, frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain
racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not. Such programs stigmatize
students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes.
Consequently, they deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of a school.
A line in the sand is clearly drawn here.
The Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that
has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions.
14-days to comply, or the money stops, is the clear threat in this passage.
The Department intends to take appropriate measures to assess compliance with the
applicable statutes and regulations based on the understanding embodied in this letter
beginning no later than 14 days from today’s date, including antidiscrimination
requirements that are a condition of receiving federal funding.
Likely Fallout and Reactions
The letter is remarkably strongly worded. That is was delivered as a "night-letter" on a Friday evening is even more remarkable. This should dominate the news cycle this weekend, with talking heads alternatively prasising it or cursing it. We should likely expect at least a dozen states' Attorney Generals to file for injunctions in Federal Courts. By the middle of next week if not sooner there may even be small scale protests, or "walkouts" in certain regions. This letter will accelerate a showdown over DEI and associated concepts that conservatives have been pining for. It seems to fit the pattern of strategy designed by Trump advisor Stephen Miller to flood the space with action, and overwhelm the capacity to meaningful resist Trump's agenda. This is potentially an issue that will galvanize Democrats, beyond what has occured to date.
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