That’s the amount of money the Dayton Public Schools stands to lose if it continues to rebuff federal government demands that it sign a pledge saying it doesn’t use diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The school board gets an A+ for resisting.
The federal government justified its demand by saying DEI is illegal under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Title VI, part of a federal law, says you can’t discriminate based on race, gender, or national origin.
DEI is a program to ensure that an organization respects its diverse workforce and creates a welcoming and inclusive environment. It’s not, and shouldn’t be, a race-based program, though that’s the way Republicans have smartly framed it. Just as they demonized CRT, which has now disappeared from the public consciousness, the GOP has brilliantly linked DEI with anti-white racism, a false narrative that’s easy to understand, believe, and repeat.
Dayton isn’t having it because the board says it will limit the district’s ability to do its job.
It will. Consider:
In a history class, a teacher asks students whether the United States should have entered WWII earlier. One student says yes because it might have stopped Pearl Harbor. Another says no because, theoretically, the attack may not have happened.
Guess what? That’s “diversity” of thought.
That same teacher calls on a somewhat shy student reluctant to participate.
That teacher is being “inclusive.”
Now, when grading the history test on WWII, the teacher uses an answer key to ensure fair grading of all the tests.
Yep, that’s “equity.”
Scoff at this as being farfetched, but is it as implausible as taking a concept meant to improve working environments and turning it into the latest culture war?
No, it isn’t.
So far, more than a dozen Ohio school districts haven’t signed the pledge. Some 22 states have said they won’t sign, according to Education Week, and 19 states have sued over the plan.
In Ohio, lawmakers want to ban DEI programs in K-12 education. But what exactly are they banning? The bill, in the Senate Education Committee, would outlaw DEI training and close DEI offices. It would also prohibit entering into agreements with third parties to promote race-based admissions, hiring, or promotion.
First, it’s already illegal to promote people based on race.
Second, the bill is a big so what? It’s one of those legislative actions that mean little and panders to a portion of the electorate that sees DEI as evil.
There’s another way to look at this. The obsession over DEI is a massive nothing burger, so why not just sign the pledge and be done with it? The feds have better things to do than monitor whether the Dayton Public Schools held a meeting about making sure people feel included at work.
But that position masks another issue. The feds and their Project 2025 buddies want to remake the education system in some ways, good (more state control) and bad (expanding vouchers at the expense of public education).
Signing this one form opens the floodgates to other demands. If you don’t increase test scores, reduce staff, or increase class size, we’ll take your money. Is any of that conceivable? Who knows, with this White House?
In Star Trek (my favorite continuing series) the archrivals of the Federation, the Borg, have a menacing catch phrase: Resistance is Futile.
It isn’t. Across the country, organizations are increasingly saying no to executive orders they deem unjust and intrusive.
Just say no. Dayton Public Schools has, and it’s the right thing to do.
Ray Marcano’s column appears on these pages each Sunday.
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