Some Arizona school districts vote to defy federal DEI order
PHOENIX (AZFamily) —Thursday was supposed to be the deadline for Arizona public schools to confirm they’re not promoting any diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, in accordance with a President Donald Trump’s executive order banning DEI in K-12 pschools.
However, a New Hampshire federal judge paused that order from taking effect. The ruling was brought on by a lawsuit from the National Education Association, which accused the Trump administration of creating an “unconstitutionally vague order” and violating the First Amendment rights of teachers.
However, the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said all districts still need to obey the White House or run the risk of losing federal funding.
Despite the judge blocking the order, the vast majority of Arizona public school districts have already complied with it, 551 out of 658, despite some initial hesitance.
Horne said he thinks DEI policies are discriminatory. “We want the schools to treat low-income students and all income students as individuals and not on the basis of what race they were born into. That’s not relevant to anything,” Horne said. “So I believe in individual merit and those who believe in racial entitlements, they don’t do anything to stimulate hard work or conscientiousness or, or creativity. And so if we follow that route, we would end up a mediocre country and China would be the dominant country in the world, if you can imagine a world like that.”
Earlier this month, the Kyrene Elementary School District adopted a Social Emotional Wellness policy, which Horne stated violated the Trump admin’s DEI order and said the district was at risk of losing more than $1 million in funding. This week, the Kyrene School District Governing Board voted to drop the policy.
Tolleson Union High School District decided not to comply with the order, claiming it’s an act of protection and approving the order would strip the district of its local authority.
Horne says a list of districts that have not complied will be posted on the state’s Department of Education website next week.
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