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New Jersey’s education chief is standing firm against the Trump administration’s pressure to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices from K-12 schools.
In a Thursday letter to the administration, Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said the state would not certify to the U.S. Department of Education that it has ended DEI programs the federal government considers illegal under civil rights laws. Dehmer said that the state already complies with those laws.
Dehmer’s letter was a response to an April 3 request from the Trump administration for states to certify that they’ve removed such DEI programs. The federal Education Department said that states that didn’t sign the certification would lose federal education funding.
Cutting off federal funding, specifically Title I funds, would disproportionately impact high-poverty districts — including Newark — that rely heavily on those funds to fill gaps in their budgets. Roughly $1.2 billion in federal funding is at stake for New Jersey schools, including $77 million that goes to Newark Public Schools.
In his letter, Dehmer also aimed to cast doubt on the administration’s authority to withhold federal funds on the basis of refusing to submit the certification it requested.
Dehmer also wrote that while the administration’s request “references ‘certain DEI practices’ or ‘illegal DEI,’ it does not define those terms, and there are no known federal or New Jersey state laws prohibiting diversity, equity, or inclusion.”
New Jersey and its school districts already “fully comply with all state and federal laws and to provide protections that empower all students to realize their full potential,” Dehmer said in a statement that followed release of the letter.
Dehmer’s letter echoed what many other Democratic-led states like Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York have said in their responses to the administration — that they’re already in compliance with civil rights laws without bowing to the Trump administration’s push against DEI. States have also questioned the legal basis for the certification request.
The administration initially gave a 10-day deadline for states to respond but then extended that deadline to April 24.
The state education department, Dehmer noted in his letter, already certified that it’s in compliance with Title VI — the section of federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of race or shared ancestry — as part of its Every Student Succeeds Act Consolidated State Plan, which outlines how a state implements federal education laws.
Additionally, Dehmer stated, local school districts certify that they’re in compliance with Title VI on an annual basis as part of the state’s grant administration process.
The state education department “is unaware of any changes in federal law or regulations that would necessitate the provision of additional certifications beyond those that it or New Jersey LEAs [local education agencies] have already provided,” Dehmer wrote in the letter.
He added, “The NJDOE questions USDE’s authority to condition continued receipt of federal funds on the submission of additional certifications.”
As of Thursday, at least 15 other states have already declined to sign the certification, according to Education Week.
Locally, teachers and students have held protests against the threats of federal cuts.
Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.
