Trump tells schools to end diversity
But New Jersey laws mandate they continue those efforts
By: Mary Ann Korth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... The Trump administration's effort to eradicate identity-and race-related initiatives in public education has local school leaders wondering how this will play out in New Jersey - since these topics have been taught and discussed in the classroom for years
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The most recent directive, a letter sent Friday [02/14/2025] from the Office for Civil rights in the U.S. Departed of Education, gives schools and colleges 14 days to comply with a directive to end what the Trump administration calls "discriminatory" practices related to "diversity, equity and inclusion," or DEI. initiatives.
..... That conflicts with a New Jersey law that has required schools since the 2021-2022 academic year to "incorporate instruction on diversity and inclusion in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades kindergarten through 12."
..... Schools refer to it as the diversity mandate.
..... State law have long included curriculum mandates. A law in place since the 1990s require teaching children about the Holocaust and genocide. The Amidst mandate, passed in the early 2000s, requires schools to teach African American history.
..... The Murphy administration has also put in new mandates related identity and race: teaching about the history and contributions of disabled and LGBTQ+ people, as well as Asian American and Pacific Islanders.
..... The state's diversity mandate also requires teaching about "unconscious bias" in schools.
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The state Education Department has yet to make a public statement about the Trump administration's February 14 [2025] letter.
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The letter - or any guidance about it was not included in the most recent list of published broadcast memos that the state regularly sent school administrators to inform them about policy directives, deadlines and other matters affecting K-12 schools.
.... State Attorney General Matthew Platkin has led a charge with other Democratic attorneys general, filing several lawsuits against the Trump administration over initiatives they argue are unconstitutional, such as hte administraiton's challenge to birthright citizenship.
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Meanwhile, Rutgers university President Jonathan Holloway sent an email to the university community Tuesday [02/18/2025] afternoon, addressing the federal Education Department letter, which some say will have more impact on admissions policies in higher education than on K-12 schools.
..... "Rutgers considers diversity to be necessary to foster the cultural competencies resilience, and openness to dialogue that promote the intellectual growth and intergroup understanding that are essential for success in the classroom, the university community, and society at large," he wrote.
..... The university would "monitor the impact and legal implications of all the feral executive actions that may affect our university community," he said.
..... The university has also created a website to track the blitz of education related orders and directives from the Trump administration.
..... The February 14 [2025] letter alleges that education institutions have "topically indoctrinated students' with the premise that the United States is built upon "systemic and structural racism." The letter goes on to target the Biden administration for justifying these practices.
..... The debate over whether racism was built into some government and private policies or that racism is "systemic" - such as in the case of the practice of "reeling" sued by banks beginning in the 1930s to deny African Americans loans to buy homes in white neighborhoods until it banned by a 1968 law - has stoked the culture wars between conservatives and liberals.
..... Fierce arguments over whether to include these topics in New Jersey social studies curricula pit school board members, teachers and parents against one another.
..... Few schools superintendents contacted for this story responded to a request for comment on the letter. Two people said they expect lawsuits to challenge the letter.
..... "I would only say at this time that we look for more specific guidance that the notice indicates will be coming on what this means for pre-K to 12 education, said Ricard Bozza, who head the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. Bozza said he was looking to hear from the state for guidance on intemperating the letter.
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"I do believe that there will be challenges by many states to this interpretation, particularly as the states establish the requirements for school curricula," he said.
..... States and local boards of education have control over what is taught in American classrooms.
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But the February 14 [2025] letter said institutions that do not follow the Trump administration's directives to end diversity initiatives could lose federal funds.
..... "The problem is they there are things the state says we have to do that are in conflict with the federal government now," said one superintendent who did not want to reveal their identity or district, for fear of drawing attention to students.
..... Losing federal funding was the main issue for Kittatinny Regional School District Superintendent Craig Hutchison. He was concerned about Trump's desire to eviscerate or even close the U.S. Department of Education. His district receives about $400,00 annually in impact aid, provided as a one-time payment in lieu of taxes from the federal government, which owns about 18.300 acres of Delaware waterfront property that falls within the district's boundaries.
..... The district ha lost nearly 75% of state aid in recent years. "Any cuts to funding which federal or state will be devastating," he said.
..... A U.S. Education Department letter sent earlier this month [02/2025] addresses gender and gender expression, and was widely criticized as an attack on transgender people. It said the federal Education Department will recognize only two genders: male and female, The letter also informed schools about changes to how it interprets Title IX, a federal law banning discrimination based on sex.
..... "Our administration is in constant communication with school districts across the state as we closely monitor changing, and in many harmful, federal education policies and tier potential impact on New Jersey's school communities," Maggle Garbarino, deputy secretary for Governor Phil Murphy, said earlier this month [02/2025] when asked to comment on the letter.
..... "We will always stand up for New Jersey students, doing everything in our power to ensure LGBTQIA+ youth feel safe and supported at school," she said in a email.
..... Platkin and a coalition of attorneys general issued a statement the day after the letter was sent out, saying gender-affirming care is essential. "health care decisions should be made by patients, families , and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms," they said.