Most of Butler County’s public schools have signed off on DEI ban

These include: Lakota, Middletown, Fairfield, Madison, Edgewood, Ross, Monroe and Talawanda schools.

Officials from Hamilton and New Miami schools did not respond this week to queries from the Journal-News.

Elsewhere in the region, officials with the Dayton Public Schools made headlines last week in announcing it would not sign the federally ordered ban of DEI programs.

President Donald Trump’s administration sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to all U.S. schools on April 3, requiring them to verify they don’t use DEI classroom instruction or other programs to “advantage one race over another.”

The document also says institutions who use DEI practices may face lawsuits from the U.S. Department of Justice and may be required to forfeit funds that were paid to them under previous contracts and grants.

But some school officials elsewhere in Ohio have objected to how vague the letter is, saying the diversity, equity and inclusion part of the letter could include items that are required under federal law, such as identifying what groups of students are performing worse academically.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce sent a letter to public schools demanding they respond to the letter by last Friday.

Schools who do not submit the letter stand to lose millions of dollars from the federal government. U.S. Department of Education gives money to U.S. public schools, which generally goes towards items like special education or Title I, which targets students who are from low-income families.

Butler County school officials that did respond to queries declined to comment on their sign off of the DEI ban.

Edgewood Schools Interim Superintendent Curtis Philpot said only: “I signed off and submitted the document because none of our policies were considered to be in violation of the new requirements.”

It’s hard to gauge exactly what percentage Ohio schools are getting from the federal government because recent years saw inflated numbers with public schools receiving federal COVID-19 relief funds, but generally the percentage since 2019 has hovered between 6.8% and 15%, according to the Ohio Cupp Report, which compares various facts about school districts to other district.

In a court case filed in Maryland from the American Federation of Teachers and American Sociological Association, as well as the Maryland branch of the AFT, plaintiffs argue that the “Dear Colleague” letter misrepresents federal law. Nothing prohibits teachers from discussing race and race-related topics, and the Supreme Court has not banned efforts for diversity, equity and inclusion in education, according to the lawsuit.

“The Department of Education (‘Department’) is attempting to establish a new legal regime when it has neither the lawmaking power of Congress nor the interpretative power of the courts,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also says there is no definition in the letter for assessing discrimination in violation of Title VI. But the letter implies that education topics, like teaching a lesson about slavery or the forced relocation of Native American tribes, are now illegal discrimination, according to the lawsuit.