Connecticut will not comply with demands to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in its K-12 schools, a decision that will likely put the state in a standoff with the Trump administration, which has threatened to pull federal funding over the issue.
States were issued letters earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Education, calling on officials to “certify their compliance with their anti-discrimination obligations in order to continue receiving federal financial assistance.” Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker announced Wednesday that the state responded to the request and will not sign it.
In the letter dated April 15, Russell-Tucker wrote to the federal Education Department that Connecticut and state officials are already in compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“We will continue to build on the collective efforts of our educators, families, and school communities to create learning environments where every student is valued and supported,” Russell-Tucker said in a statement. “We remain focused on the work happening in our schools every day and are staunchly committed to ensuring that all our 508,402 students have access to a universe of opportunities.”
Lamont echoed that sentiment on Wednesday.
“In Connecticut, we’re proud to support the incredible diversity of our schools and work tirelessly to ensure that every child, regardless of background, has access to a quality education and the best opportunity at the starting line in life,” Lamont said in a statement. “From our educators, who are mentoring and inspiring the next generation of young people, to our curriculum, our commitment to education is what has made our schools nationally recognized, and we plan to continue doing what makes our students, teachers, and schools successful.”
Hundreds of millions of dollars that Connecticut receives from the federal government in K-12 education assistance could be at risk.
Specifically, the April 3 letter from the U.S. Department of Education threatened to pull back Title I funding, which provides support to school districts with high concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds.
Connecticut received about $553 million in federal funding for education during the 2023-2024 school year, according to School and State Finance Project. About half of that funding goes toward Title I and special education through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also known as IDEA.
While education is mostly controlled at the state and local level, certain municipalities would feel the strain of federal changes or cuts more than others. Connecticut’s biggest cities rely much more heavily on those dollars. For Waterbury, 22% of its school funding comes from the federal government, with much of it from Title I.
Outside Betances Elementary School in Hartford on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., challenged the federal policies, calling them “just plain dumb and cruel.”
“This so-called guidance that threatens a loss of funding saying, ‘We’re gonna eliminate all of the hundreds of millions of dollars that Connecticut received in funding if it continues social-emotional learning,’ when, in fact, these kinds of services help stop violence, promote academic success and make students feel better about going to school,” Blumenthal said.
“This kind of policy ought to be rescinded as quickly as possible so students can be taught the basic kinds of tools they need to build friendships and avoid conflict and stop violence. It’s really pretty simple, but the Trump administration seems on a DEI bender toward destroying American education, and this particular aspect of it is so important, not just emotionally, but also academically,” Blumenthal continued.
In recent years, the Connecticut legislature has worked to diversify its teaching workforce, as several studies have shown that having educators in classrooms who look like their students can improve academic performance.
In 2023, the state legislature passed the Aspiring Educators Diversity Scholarship Program, which has begun to provide up to $10,000 annually to graduates from Alliance Districts to go into the teaching profession.
Legislation proposed this year that passed out of the state’s Education Committee would expand the scholarship beyond the state’s 33 Alliance Districts — the lowest-performing schools — to any Connecticut high school graduate, with hopes the scholarship could also diversify the workforce by bringing more men into classrooms, Committee Co-Chair Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, said at a committee meeting on March 24.
Blumenthal fears these kinds of initiatives are at risk as well.
“This policy of denigrating diversity is just plain dumb. It’s dumb and cruel because we want students to look at their teachers and see themselves,” Blumenthal said. “If they’re kids of color, if they’re kids of different religions and backgrounds, we want teachers to reflect their classrooms, and so saying, ‘Oh, we don’t want diversity in teachers’ is just really stupid. I hate to use that word. I always told my children never to call someone stupid, but this is stupid.”
Last week, Blumenthal signed a letter from a dozen lawmakers across the country that urged the federal Department of Education to “immediately rescind” correspondence sent to state education leaders in February that alleged that public education has “toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.”
In document released by the federal Department of Education titled “Frequently Asked Questions About Racial Preferences and Stereotypes Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act”, the department hinted that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts may be unlawful.
“Many schools have advanced racially discriminatory policies and practices under the banner of ‘DEI’ initiatives. Other schools have sought to veil racially discriminatory policies with terms like ‘social-emotional learning’ or ‘culturally responsive’ teaching,” the document states.
“But whether an initiative constitutes unlawful discrimination does not turn solely on whether it is labeled ‘DEI’ or uses terminology such as ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ or ‘inclusion.’ OCR’s assessment of school policies and programs depends on the facts and circumstances of each case,” the document continues. “Schools may not operate policies or programs under any name that intentionally treat students differently based on race, engage in racial stereotyping, or create hostile environments for students of particular races.”
Lawmakers across the country have opposed the Education Department’s interpretations. In an April 9 letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Craig Trainor, the acting assistant for the Civil Rights Department of Education, Blumenthal and about a dozen other lawmakers — including Cory Booker, D-N.J., Suzanne Bonamici, D-Mich., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., said the guidance from the federal government has begun to “mischaracterize federal civil rights laws, overturn state and local control laws and practices, invade local curricula decisions, and threaten the rescission of critical federal funding.”
The letter also addressed social-emotional learning.
“The FAQ document spreads misinformation by falsely suggesting, without evidence, that social and emotional learning (SEL) and culturally responsive teaching are discriminatory,” the lawmakers’ letter states. “Although SEL can take place anywhere, SEL in schools often refers to educational practices, frameworks, and programs that create supportive environments and opportunities for students to learn and practice social and emotional skills.”
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.