Stopping the DEI Spending Train

President Biden's Education Department spent over a billion dollars in the past four years on grants for schools to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These funds were used for hiring, programs, and training, all aimed at advancing a divisive ideology. A new report shows that $489 million went to DEI hiring, $343 million to DEI programs, and $169 million to DEI mental health programs. For example, Montgomery County Public Schools in North Carolina received over $21 million for a program teaching teachers to treat minority students differently. Meanwhile, Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan got $15 million, part of which paid a consultant nearly $20, 000 to train teachers on "culturally responsive teaching. " The Biden administration's focus on DEI is no secret. Just minutes into his presidency, Biden signed an executive order making racial equity a primary goal of federal policy. However, the Department of Education's embrace of DEI at the expense of student outcomes is shocking. While the agency pushes DEI ideology, school achievement rates have dropped, especially after the 2020-2021 school closures. Each dollar spent on DEI is a dollar not spent on improving education. This ideological approach to grant-making is questionable and wasteful. The Department of Education distributes billions of dollars to schools each year, from elementary to postgraduate, with conditions to prevent misuse of taxpayer money. Incoming Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the Trump administration should prioritize stopping the use of taxpayer dollars for divisive ideologies. Instead, they should focus on grant-making that genuinely improves student outcomes.