Minnesota’s education commissioner pushes back on federal demand to end ‘illegal DEI’

Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett is rejecting the premise of the Trump administration’s request for states to certify the absence of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools as a requirement for receiving federal funds.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights told leaders of state education agencies they had 10 days to certify that no local school districts in their state are employing “illegal DEI practices” that advantage one race over another.

As part of the request for certification, state education agencies were charged with collecting signed assurances from individual school districts as well as attesting to the state’s overall compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions.

In response, Jett said such a demand “seemingly seeks to change the terms and conditions of federal financial assistance awarded to MDE without formal administrative process.”

“ED does not have the authority to unilaterally overrule the will of Congress,” Jett wrote. “The current uncertainty and threats would penalize the most vulnerable children in Minnesota and are a distraction from the good work we need to do to ensure every student has access to a world-class education.”

He maintained that Minnesota has “consistently complied with Title VI” — which prohibits race-based discrimination in federal programs — while asking for clarity on specific programs or practices that might violate federal law.

“To the extent that ED has identified specific activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion that it believes violate Title VI, we request advisement of them,” Jett wrote.