Wisconsin DPI rejects Trump administration request for certification on DEI ban compliance
State Superintendent Jill Underly said "Washington, D.C. should not dictate how schools educate their kids." Underly pictured with Madison La Follette High School Principal Mathew Thompson and Madison Public School District Superintendent Joe Gothard in the hallway at La Follette in September 2024. (Photo by Ruth Conniff/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction rejected the Trump administration's request to certify compliance with a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion in K-12 public schools.
State Superintendent Jill Underly said in a statement that Wisconsin schools are following the law.
'We've put that into writing to the USDE,' Underly said. 'We believe in local control in Wisconsin and trusting our local leaders – superintendents, principals, educators – who work together with parents and families every day to support students. They know their communities best. Washington, D.C. should not dictate how schools educate their kids.'
The U.S. Department of Education sent a letter earlier this month to state agencies across the country requesting that agencies check with local school districts to ensure they don't have diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The federal administration is trying to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision, which said race-based programs in higher education violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, to K-12 education. The administration said state agencies needed to ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court decision.
Wisconsin is one of several states, mostly led by Democrats, that have pushed back on the request. The Trump administration, which has been targeting diversity efforts in K-12 schools as well as in higher education and other sectors, has threatened that it could pull funding from states that don't comply with the request.
Wisconsin schools receive $841.9 million from the federal government, making up about 8% of the total funding for schools across the state. Funding from the Department of Education makes up $568.2 million of that, and according to DPI, this is equivalent to 6,106 educator jobs.
According to the letter, DPI provided the Department of Education with copies of previous certifications of compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The agency said that its repeated requests for additional information about the new certification request went unanswered. In an April 9 letter, DPI asked for clarification on why the federal government was requesting another certification and asked the Department of Education to answer questions including whether the requested certification seeks to enforce any requirement beyond what is required by federal law and regulation and what legal authority the Education Department is using to make the request a condition of federal aid.
'If the certified assurances are insufficient to meet the conditions of federal funding imposed by USDE, please articulate the basis in law for imposing these conditions, as well as an explanation as to why these assurances do not fulfill those requirements,' DPI General Counsel Benjamin Jones wrote to the Department of Education.
Underly said the new certification is a way for the federal government to 'directly control the decisions in our schools by conditioning federal dollars. This is a serious concern – not just for the DPI, but for anyone who believes in lawful, transparent government.'
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Bernie Sanders urges Democrats not to work with ‘right-wing extremist' Musk after Trump fallout
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ruled out the idea that Democrats should work with Elon Musk after his explosive falling out with President Donald Trump, labeling the Tesla CEO a "right-wing extremist." Musk said that he "strongly supported Obama" but felt that the modern Democratic Party had been "hijacked by extremists" in an April 2022 post on X. "Musk has evolved over the years. My understanding is he actually voted for Obama in 2008. But over the years, he has developed into a right-wing extremist," Sanders told CNN "State of the Union" host Dana Bash after she asked if Democrats should work with the tech billionaire after his "breakup" with Trump. Timeline: Inside The Evolving Relationship Between Trump And Musk From First Term To This Week's Fallout Sanders dismissed the idea out of hand and said Trump and Musk's drama was further proof that the United States was devolving into an oligarchic society. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist dismissed the episode as a fight among oligarchs, and slammed it as an "embarrassment" to people who believe in democracy and the rule of law. "Musk said to Trump, 'hey listen, I spent $270 million to get you elected. I bought you the presidency because we have a corrupt campaign finance system and billionaires can do that.' And Trump said, 'well, I gave you the right to run the government for three or four months, but I don't like the guy you want to run NASA, and we're going to get rid of him' and Musk got upset," Sanders said. Read On The Fox News App Musk endorsed Trump after he survived his assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and subsequently served as one of his top surrogates and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get him elected. Trump selected Musk to serve as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and tasked him with cutting waste, fraud and abuse from the federal bureaucracy. Musk's tenure at DOGE was tumultuous. Although he found billions of dollars in spending cuts, his reductions in federal outlays fell far short of the trillion dollars he promised. Backlash to Musk's work within the administration caused his businesses to suffer. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Trump and Musk's relationship took a turn for the worse after the president withdrew Musk-ally Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA. Musk proceeded to trash the "big beautiful bill" Trump is trying to get through Congress, claiming Trump only won because he donated $270 million to aid his campaign and alleging, without proof, that the president is featured in the so-called Epstein files in an X post he subsequently deleted. Trump warned that Musk will have to face "very serious consequences" if he funds Democratic candidates as a result of their rupture. When asked by Bash if he feels that Musk is correct in claiming that Trump only won because of Musk's money, Sanders responded article source: Bernie Sanders urges Democrats not to work with 'right-wing extremist' Musk after Trump fallout
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Tensions Flare Between Protesters and Law Enforcement in L.A.
News Analysis National Guard troops in Los Angeles on Sunday. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has formally asked the Trump administration to remove them. It is the fight President Trump had been waiting for, a showdown with a top political rival in a deep blue state over an issue core to his political agenda. In bypassing the authority of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, to call in the National Guard to quell protests in the Los Angeles area over his administration's efforts to deport more migrants, Mr. Trump is now pushing the boundaries of presidential authority and stoking criticism that he is inflaming the situation for political gain. Local and state authorities had not sought help in dealing with the scattered protests that erupted after an immigration raid on Friday in the garment district. But Mr. Trump and his top aides leaned into the confrontation with California leaders on Sunday, portraying the demonstrations as an existential threat to the country — setting in motion an aggressive federal response that in turn sparked new protests across the city. As more demonstrators took to the streets, the president wrote on social media that Los Angeles was being 'invaded and occupied' by 'violent, insurrectionist mobs,' and directed three of his top cabinet officials to take any actions necessary to 'liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion.' 'Nobody's going to spit on our police officers. Nobody's going to spit on our military,' Mr. Trump told reporters as he headed to Camp David on Sunday, although it was unclear whether any such incidents had occurred. 'That happens, they get hit very hard.' The president declined to say whether he planned to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, which allows for the use of federal troops on domestic soil to quell a rebellion. But either way, he added, 'we're going to have troops everywhere.' Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, posted on social media that 'this is a fight to save civilization.' Mr. Trump's decision to deploy at least 2,000 members of the California National Guard is the latest example of his willingness and, at times, an eagerness to shatter norms to pursue his political goals and bypass limits on presidential power. The last president to send in the National Guard for a domestic operation without a request from the state's governor, Lyndon B. Johnson, did so in 1965, to protect civil rights demonstrators in Alabama. Image President Donald Trump in New Jersey on Sunday. On social media, he, his aides and allies have sought to frame the demonstrations against immigration officials on their own terms. Credit... Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times But aides and allies of the president say the events unfolding in Los Angeles provide an almost perfect distillation of why Mr. Trump was elected in November. 'It could not be clearer,' said Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker and ally of the president who noted that Mr. Trump had been focused on immigration enforcement since 2015. 'One side is for enforcing the law and protecting Americans, and the other side is for defending illegals and being on the side of the people who break the law.' Sporadic protests have occurred across the country in recent days as federal agents have descended on Los Angeles and other cities searching workplaces for undocumented immigrants, part of an expanded effort by the administration to ramp up the number of daily deportations. On social media, Mr. Trump, his aides and allies have sought to frame the demonstrations against immigration officials on their own terms. They have shared images and videos of the most violent episodes — focusing particularly on examples of protesters lashing out at federal agents — even as many remained peaceful. Officials also zeroed in on demonstrators waving flags of other countries, including Mexico and El Salvador, as evidence of a foreign invasion. 'Illegal criminal aliens and violent mobs have been committing arson, throwing rocks at vehicles, and attacking federal law enforcement for days,' wrote Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. Mr. Newsom, whom the president refers to as 'Newscum,' has long been a foil for Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly targeted California and its leader as emblematic of failures of the Democratic Party. 'We expected this, we prepared for this,' Mr. Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times. 'This is not surprising — for them to succeed, California must fail, and so they're going to try everything in their tired playbook despite the evidence against them.' Image Law enforcement officers and members of the California National Guard engaged protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. Credit... Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times On Sunday, the governor sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally requesting that Mr. Trump rescind the call-up of the National Guard, saying federal actions were inflaming the situation. He was echoed by other Democratic officials, who said the mounting demonstrations were the result of Mr. Trump's own actions. The president and his aides 'are masters of misinformation and disinformation,' Senator Alex Padilla of California, a Democrat, said in an interview. 'They create a crisis of their own making and come in with all the theatrics and cruelty of immigration enforcement. They should not be surprised in a community like Los Angeles they will be met by demonstrators who are very passionate about standing up for fundamental rights and due process.' Republicans defended Mr. Trump's moves, saying he was rightfully exercising his power to protect public safety. 'The president is extremely concerned about the safety of federal officials in L.A. right now who have been subject to acts of violence and harassment and obstruction,' Representative Kevin Kiley, Republican of California, said in an interview. He added: 'We are in this moment because of a series of reckless decisions by California's political leaders, the aiding and abetting the open-border policies of President Biden.' Trump officials said on Sunday that they were ready to escalate their response even more, if necessary. Tom Homan, the president's border czar, suggested in an interview with NBC News that the administration would arrest anyone, including public officials, who interfered with immigration enforcement activities, which he said would continue in California and across the country. Image Protesters in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday. Credit... Alex Welsh for The New York Times Mr. Trump appears to be deploying against California a similar playbook that he has used to punish universities, law firms and other institutions and individuals that he views as political adversaries. Last month, he threatened to strip 'large scale' federal funding from California 'maybe permanently' over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports. And in recent days, his administration said it would pull roughly $4 billion in federal funding for California's high-speed train, which would further delay a project that has long been plagued by delays and funding shortages. 'Everything he's done to attack California or anybody he fears isn't supportive of him is going to continue to be an obsession of his,' Mr. Padilla said. 'He may think it plays smart for his base, but it's actually been bad for the country.' White House officials said there was a different common denominator that explains Mr. Trump's actions both against institutions like Harvard and immigration protests in Los Angeles. 'For years Democrat-run cities and institutions have failed the American people, by both choice and incompetence,' Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. 'In each instance,' she added, 'the president took necessary action to protect Americans when Democrats refused.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
DNC chair on leaked call says Hogg ‘essentially destroyed' initial credibility
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin said in a recent party meeting that Vice Chair David Hogg has 'essentially destroyed' his chances of leading the DNC successfully, according to leaked audio obtained by Politico. Martin seemed to get choked up as he addressed Hogg, who rose to national prominence as a gun control activist and has pledged to primary Democrats he sees as ineffective in pushing back against President Trump and the GOP. 'No one knows who the hell I am, right? I'm trying to get my sea legs underneath of me and actually develop any amount of credibility so I can go out there and raise the money and do the job I need to, to put ourselves in a position to win,' Martin told other DNC leaders on the call. 'And again, I don't think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership what I need to. It's really frustrating,' Martin said. Politico reported that the conversation took place on a Zoom meeting of DNC officers on May 15, a few days after the DNC recommended new elections on procedural grounds for seats held by Hogg and one other vice chair. Members will decide on Monday whether to hold new elections. In the recording, Martin told Hogg that he respected the progressive activist but said the intraparty drama has led him to question whether it's worth continuing in the post. 'I'll say, look, it has plenty of warts, and we're all trying to change those, for sure, but the longer we continue this fight, the harder it is for us to actually do what we all want to do, which is make a difference in this country again,' Martin said in the meeting. 'So I deeply respect you, David. I, too, was looking forward to working with you, but this has created a situation, and I'll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job … the other night, I said to myself, for the first time, I don't know if I want to do this anymore.' In a statement to The Hill, Martin said, 'I'm not going anywhere.' 'I took this job to fight Republicans, not Democrats. As I said when I was elected, our fight is not within the Democratic Party, our fight is and has to be solely focused on Donald Trump and the disastrous Republican agenda,' he said. 'That's the work that I will continue to do every day.' Symone Sanders Townsend, an MSNBC host and former Democratic adviser, came to Martin's defense in a post on the social platform X on Sunday. 'Ken Martin had a vulnerable moment w/his vice chairs & other leaders on a call. Someone recorded it + shared it. Seems to me THAT anonymous person has no business anywhere near the DNC,' she wrote. 'As a former DNC member, it's quite clear there are too many people currently in roles for the wrong reasons. From the outside looking in, I don't think Ken Martin is one of them.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
