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Roughly $1.2 billion in federal funding for New Jersey schools is at stake after the Trump administration on Thursday demanded that state education departments adhere to the administration’s controversial stance against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools.
Federal education officials gave state education agencies 10 days to certify that they are eliminating DEI efforts that the Trump administration deems unlawful under its interpretation of federal civil rights law in order to receive federal funding. Some experts question the order’s legality.
Thursday’s directive from the U.S. Education Department threatens $77 million in federal funding for Newark, the state’s largest district. That funding makes up around 5% of its $1.5 billion budget.
New Jersey Department of Education officials were reviewing the federal government’s latest memo “to determine the appropriate next steps,” spokesman Michael Yaple said in an emailed statement Friday. “The NJDOE remains steadfast in our commitment to work with school districts to ensure all students receive equitable access to high-quality education.”
Yaple did not expand on how the state education department will respond to the 10-day deadline but added that it “will provide updates on the process as it evolves.”
The federal government’s directive broadly says that states failing to comply risk losing all federal funding, but it specifically references withholding Title I funds that support high-poverty schools. Some experts, though, are questioning the order’s legality.
“Threatening federal funding for our schools, and especially our low-income and special needs students, is cruel and reckless,” state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We’ll fight any attempt to take away this critical funding.”
The state Office of Attorney General did not provide more information on Platkin’s statement on Friday. Some elected officials and state education department leaders have started taking a forceful stance against the threat, including Chicago’s mayor who said he planned to file a lawsuit if the administration follows through on its threat to withhold funds.
This latest attack on DEI in schools comes just days after another setback to federal funding: Education department officials announced that they would not honor deadline extensions to spend COVID aid that had been approved by the Biden administration.
As a result, 20 school districts across New Jersey, including Newark, could lose an additional $85 million in federal funding for infrastructure projects that are already in progress.
“These cuts are reckless and irresponsible, allowing us very little time for contingency plans,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement earlier in the week. It remained unclear how districts would be affected by the federal government’s decision to take back those funds or how the gap in funding would be addressed.
The threats to federal funding for public schools come as districts across the state are approving budgets for the 2025-26 school year. School budgets are largely supported by state and local taxes, but federal funding plays a key role in covering services for students with disabilities, homeless students, low-income students, students learning English as a second language, and school lunch programs.
New Jersey’s K-12 schools receive $1.2 billion in federal funding, of which roughly $460 million is Title I funding for lower-income students and about $430 million is earmarked for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The remainder of those federal dollars go toward Head Start programs and other programs the federal government is required to help fund, such as Title III, which supports English language learners.
For a large district like Newark with a significant population of low-income students and students with disabilities, its $76.8 million in federal funding can go a long way as $23.9 million is set aside for Title I needs and $11.6 million is earmarked for students with disabilities. About $9 million helps to cover the district’s Head Start program, while the remaining funds help cover other federally mandated programs.
Last month, Platkin joined 14 other state attorneys general to issue guidance for K-12 schools and higher education institutions that countered efforts by the federal government to eliminate education policies promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In a statement Friday, the state Department of Education said that districts should continue to refer to that guidance in light of the latest directive this week.
“Indeed, providing a welcoming, supportive educational environment free of discrimination in all its forms is central not only to longstanding practice and values in New Jersey schools, but to New Jersey law,” state Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said last month in a notice to school districts about where the state stands on DEI practices.
Newark leaders have been outspoken about protecting the federal funding that the district receives while continuing to support programs that promote diversity. Mayor Ras Baraka said last month at a teachers union-led rally against federal funding cuts that the threats target the city’s working-class families.
In a phone interview Thursday, Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon said that he hopes the state and district leaders take a strong stance against the latest threat.
“We don’t have any programs that discriminate against any students or teachers,” Abeigon said. “I hope the districts and states push back on this — leave us alone.”
Mark Weber, an education policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, a nonpartisan think tank, said that lower-income districts would be hardest hit if federal funding is pulled back given that Title I funding is based on the concentration of low-income students in a district.
“The districts that are getting more Title I funding are going to have more children of color in them and those are exactly the students that DEI programs are supposed to be helping,” Weber said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s absurd that we’re talking about programming geared toward children whose districts need more federal funds.”
Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.
Catherine Carrera 2025-04-04 23:39:41
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