As states battle with President Trump over his ban on DEI programs in schools, many rural districts are suffering. Let’s pray for each of these states!

From The Epoch Times. Several blue states have joined New York in resisting federal efforts to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools.

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Leaders in California, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Washington said they wouldn’t provide a signed statement to the federal government by an April 24 deadline to certify compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting practices such as diversity training, affinity groups by race and gender, preferential hiring practices by race, and classroom curricula that include progressive ideologies such as critical race theory.

The federal correspondence sent to state education agencies asked leaders to report back on behalf of all their school districts. New York was the first state to dismiss the request, and the other states followed suit last week. …

States and districts that don’t comply risk losing federal education funding in accordance with Civil Rights law and a 2023 Supreme Court decision banning racial preferences in college admissions, the federal letter states. …

Rural districts in states that oppose the order are caught in the crossfire. Many depend on higher percentages of federal Title 1 funding than urban districts because they serve low-income student populations and don’t have a strong property tax base.

School officials said these districts have DEI statements on their websites in accordance with state laws put in place years ago, but they don’t necessarily engage in affinity groups for minority teachers or students or mandate culturally inclusive instruction practices. …

David Little, executive director of the New York State Rural Schools Association, said rural districts in the Empire State have struggled with severe enrollment losses in the past decade. Most of them rely on state funding based on enrollment, not property taxes or federal assistance, so they cannot afford not to comply with state requirements, such as DEI statements for hiring, inclusionary practices for all students, or mandated Board of Education diversity committees.

“For rural schools, today is all they know,” he said. “You’re trying to educate kids. You’re not running a compliance machine.” …

By contrast, the two largest school districts in the country have guidelines to implement race- or gender identity-based programs.

The New York City School District website has an extensive page with guidelines “to support transgender and gender-expansive students.” It notes that any student can choose the name, pronoun, and gender they want without parental consent. The Los Angeles Unified School District website includes a Black Student Achievement Plan.

Both national teacher unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have filed federal lawsuits challenging the legality and constitutionality of the Trump administration’s DEI certification requirement. …

Jonathan Butcher, an education policy research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said it remains to be seen how the Trump administration will proceed after the April 24 deadline; federal agencies may take a closer look at each state and audit individual districts as they did under similar orders for colleges and universities. …

Share your prayers for these states, districts, and schools in the comments.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Monkey Business Images/Canva)