Colorado's K-12 education department will not comply with Trump Administration's DEI order

DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado will not remove any diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the state’s K-12 school districts despite pressure from the Trump administration to eliminate them while following civil rights law.
On April 3, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter to state education departments, including Colorado’s, threatening to remove federal funding from public schools that do not stop diversity, equity and inclusion practices. The letter allowed 10 days for the states to sign and return the notice, but some states have already said they will not comply.
On Thursday, Education Commissioner Susana Cordova said Colorado would join the ranks of states not complying with the order.
She said that Colorado’s public education system is in compliance with Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin. She noted that Colorado’s district had to sign assurances to the state saying they are in compliance with Title VI, and said the state education department would not seek to collect new assurances after the April 3 letter.
She also said that the request Colorado received on April 3 is different than assurances the education department has on file, and said it has not been certified
“Frankly, I would be uncomfortable signing a certification that binds us to federal guidance that doesn’t have the force of law,” she said. “I would be uncomfortable signing a certification that lacks definitions and clarity around what is or is not prohibited, and I think that’s particularly true given that the certifications come with the potential consequences of the loss of federal funds, and so I am not signing that.”
She added that she is committed to complying with Title VI and Supreme Court cases interpreting Title VI.
Colorado Board of Education Member Lisa Escárcega said she supported Cordova’s assessment of the situation, and also said that to understand diversity, equity and inclusion practices, one must look at the opposite of those words: Uniformity, inequity and exclusion. She said that while the values are good, that’s “not what this letter is about.”
“It’s a legal fight here as far as I can see,” she said. “Thinking about declining to sign has nothing to do with whether I value DEI or not.”
She said that the commissioner’s point regarding signing a certificate that lacks definitions and clarity is fair.
“I don’t know what I would be signing away to, or for, no matter what my values are,” Escarcega said.
Another board member asked if there are credible reports of using DEI mechanisms to discriminate based on race. The Department of Education’s letter stated that white and Asian students have been discriminated against because of their race.