The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024. (File photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
Maryland school officials are being told they should not rush to meet a Friday deadline to eliminate all race-based programming or potentially face the loss of federal funds.
The concern stems from a Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter from Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, that said schools “may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.” The letter said the department would begin to “assess compliance” no later than Feb. 28, this Friday, and that institutions not in compliance “may … face potential loss of federal funding.”
Maryland State Superintendent Carey Wright said in an interview Wednesday that superintendents in all 24 of the state’s school systems and the state routinely receive “Dear Colleague” letters from the U.S. Department of Education. She said the state department not only receives advice from the Attorney General’s Office, but also from mthe Council of Chief State School Officers and Education Counsel.
Local superintendents can also consult with their own attorneys, Wright said, but one piece of advice given to them: “The Dear Colleague letters do not carry the weight of law, so they are not the same thing as statute.”
A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Sociological Association, the American Federation of Teachers and its affiliate, AFT-Maryland, claimed in a lawsuit Tuesday that the Trainor letter has no merit. Their suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, asks for a preliminary injunction to prevent the department from enforcing the letter.
When asked for comment on the suit, a department spokesperson said in an email Wednesday that the agency “does not discuss pending litigation.”
Since taking office a little more than five weeks ago, President Donald Trump (R) and his administration have routinely attacked and pushed to eliminate DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — programs and other initiatives. Trainor’s letter said schools have taken to pushing race-based programs in recent years “under the banner of” DEI.
But Sam Mathias, legal and policy services director with the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, said in a statement Wednesday that school boards have long adhered to federal and state laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination.
“School boards and board counsel in Maryland and nationwide, as well as MABE, continue to monitor the situation regarding the Dear Colleague Letter and the ensuing lawsuit seeking injunctive relief,” Mathias wrote Wednesday. “And also continue to monitor related executive actions, related lawsuits, and injunctions that could impact decision-making in schools.”
Mike Lurie, spokesperson for the University System of Maryland, said in an email Monday that the system received the Trainor letter and was reviewing it with legal counsel.
One Maryland education advocate, a former middle and high school teacher, called the Feb. 14 letter “misleading” and “garbage.”
“The diversity, equity and inclusion policies we have in place are consistent with federal and legal and constitution standards as stated by the courts,” sharlimar douglass, lead advocate and strategist for the Maryland Alliance for Racial Equity and Education, said Wednesday. “Most of our education systems go beyond what’s legally required.”
In the letter, Trainor cites a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, but says “the Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly” than just admissions.
U.S. Department of Education sued over letter on race-conscious practices in schools
Under that ruling, he said, federal law “prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
The teacher’s union suit claims the letter misrepresents the law and represents “a stark change” from the department’s recent interpretation of Title VI, which prohibits discrimination against a person based on national origin, race, or color from being discriminated against. That includes the denial of benefits or the ability to participate in a program or activity that receives “federal financial assistance.”
“The Letter fails to provide definitions and objective standards for assessing discrimination in violation of Title VI, or to assess what conduct is lawful,” the suit says. “Thus, its references to discrimination and nondiscrimination are too vague to give clear notice of what conduct is supposedly prohibited.”
Liz Zogby, chair of the Maryland Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition, said she’s “gratified” a suit was filed.
“It’s important that we not bow down to threats around funding and stand up for things that are true and assert that,” she said. “I’m glad the AFT and these organizations are filing a suit.”
Wright, for her part, said she does not think it’s the last Dear Colleague letter Maryland schools will receive from this administration.
“I’m not anticipating any changes in the speed or scope of which all these things are coming at us,” she said. “We take it one day at a time. We take it one letter at a time.”