Critics say New York public school officials hold diversity, equity, and inclusion above all else, certainly above a proper academic education. By defying the Trump administration’s order to end DEI or lose $2 billion in federal funding, they seem to want to prove those critics right.

In a statement last week, New York public school officials refused to comply and certify that DEI was shut down. Daniel Morton-Bentley, counsel and deputy commissioner of the state’s Department of Education, argued that the Trump administration lacks legal grounds to end federal funding without an administrative process. 

“We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion,’” Morton-Bentley said in a letter to the Education Department. “But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

The statement was in response to a Feb. 14 directive from the Education Department ordering K-12 schools nationwide........

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