In President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, a lot has already taken place. One big promise he told voters was to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education.
Since taking office, President Trump and his Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, quickly cut half the number of staff members. In a visit to Arizona on Friday, April 25, McMahon said that funding will not be cut off for the programs they administer and that they want to move the education department’s duties to other agencies.
While the impacts of that have yet to be felt on a local level, his policies on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have been seen in K-12 and higher education in Arizona.
The Maricopa County Community College District, as well as public universities in Arizona, have scrubbed some DEI language on their websites. The community college district got rid of all its cultural and diverse groups convocations, including celebrations for Native American, African American, Asian American, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, and Veterans.
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In a letter to students, the district said it needed to comply with the president’s executive order on getting rid of programs and activities that focus on race, identity or national origin.
Cheyenne Mgbam, a Chandler Gilbert Community College student who was also a part of the Black Student Union, was disappointed to find out she couldn’t go to the African American convocation.
The president contends that programs that have to do with DEI undermine a merit-based approach and believes they’re a form of preferential treatment. There are those who disagree with that sentiment.
“I think a country that was founded on so many different cultures and backgrounds, is an example of something that we need to continue having or continue celebrating and continue making safe spaces for,” Mgbam said.
While the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) canceled its cultural and diverse convocations, Arizona State University told ABC15 it is still moving ahead with its own. An MCCCD spokesperson said they couldn’t comment on what ASU does but said they are continuing with the regular ceremonies.
“If one school is having it, it’s definitely a fight our own school can make as well,” Mgbam said.
It’s also not just ceremonies being canceled, though. There are changes that have impacted K-12 schools. In February, ABC15 reported on three Arizona schools losing money from a federal funding grant over DEI policies.
In speaking with the Osborn School District in February, board member Ed Hermes said the district would no longer get $1 million for the next school year through a grant that helped hire and retain experienced teachers who provided training for other educators.
“We're reeling right now. We feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us. We've lost this funding we've been counting on,” Hermes said in February.
For agencies researching ways to help kids and staff, projects abruptly shut down. The US Department of Education canceled more than $350 million in contracts through the Regional Educational Laboratories, saying they were “woke spending.”
Lenay Dunn, a senior research director with WestEd, an organization that operated two of those laboratories in the West, said they had two main research projects going on in Arizona. One was working with the Maricopa County Superintendent’s Office in finding ways to retain educators amidst a shortage.
The other research project involved working with local schools in trying to increase reading comprehension for kindergarten through third-grade students.
“We had developed it with educators in Arizona and it was being used in classrooms. Approximately over 100 teachers were using it in their classrooms. Students who need that kind of support, that resource is no longer available to them. That's been a really difficult shift,” Dunn said.
Both Hermes and Dunn argue that the work they were doing did not have to do with DEI. The organization that helped provide the grant to the Osborn School District tried to repeal the decision.
