Federal actions regarding public education and their impacts in Minnesota
Since January, uncertainty has swirled around the U.S. Department of Education due to a series of chaotic executive orders and policies from the current presidential administration. As this issue heads to print, over two dozen executive orders, directives and policies have been issued by the administration. Almost all have faced legal challenges and many of these orders have been blocked by courts. In many states, these directives violate state law; as a result, some states have refused to comply.
Many of the administration’s actions have either directly or indirectly impacted education. To help educators navigate the constant changes from the federal government, we have provided a breakdown of some of the most influential education-related executive orders and USDOE policies that have been enacted over the past few months.
DHS rescinds sensitive locations policy
What it is: This executive order rescinded a Biden- era policy banning Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from acting in “sensitive locations,” including hospitals, schools, universities and churches. The Biden-area policy was designed to protect access to basic services and ensure that immigrant children can safely attend school without worrying about being taken by ICE.
Impact in Minnesota: While we have not seen ICE raids at public schools, two university students have been taken by ICE and five others have had their visas revoked by DHS with no warning and no given cause.
Status: Still in effect.
Federal Funding Freeze
What it is: In January, the Trump administration announced that it would require all federal agencies to temporarily pause the disbursement of all funds and halt all spending until programs could be reviewed by the president to ensure they aligned with his agenda. This included vital funding for Title I programs, school lunches, health care and more.
Impact in Minnesota: Because the freeze was rescinded after only two days, we did not see negative fiscal impacts in our state because it was never implemented. However, the memo did create widespread panic and confusion at the state level, because Minnesota’s E-12 schools receive $1.1 billion in funding from the federal government, all of which would be in jeopardy if this memo had gone into effect.
Status: Temporarily blocked by courts and rescinded by the administration after widespread bipartisan backlash.
Executive order addressing “radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling”
What it is: This executive order attacks equity practices and programs that have been developed to address educational disparities and bring schools into compliance with civil rights laws. It directs the USDOE to create a plan to withhold funding from K-12 schools and programs that “promote anti-American, subversive, harmful and false ideologies.” However, it defines these ideologies broadly, including any teaching of racism or privilege in the definition – even in a historical context.
Another alarming component of the order directed the
U.S. Attorney General to work with states to criminally prosecute educators who “violate the law by…unlawfully assisting the social transition of a minor student.” Social transition is defined as the adoption of a gender identity that differs from one’s sex assigned at birth. This means that something as common as using a transgender student’s preferred name and pronouns could subject an educator to liability.
Impact in Minnesota: This executive order directly violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Furthermore, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and several courts have ruled that these practices are required by law and the president has no authority to override state law or prosecute educators through executive order.
Status: Currently facing legal challenges.
Executive order establishing a federal voucher program
What it is: An executive order issued in January that directs the Department of Education to encourage states to give funding to private schools and encourages the DOE, the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services to begin including private schools in their grant programs.
Impact in Minnesota: The Minnesota Constitution prohibits the use of public funds on private and religious schools, and an executive order does not supersede the state constitution. However, Minnesota’s refusal to comply may lead to disruptions to federal funding.
Status: Still in effect, but largely symbolic, since it only directed discretionary federal grants—which is not a large sum of money—to be available to private schools. The greater threat to future federal funding for public schools would be vouchers in the form of tax deductions for private school tuition payments within a federal tax and spending bill moving through Congress as this publication goes to print, but these would not affect state education funding.
Transgender athletes ban and investigation of Minnesota State High School League
What it is: A Feb. 5 executive order that reinterprets Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in schools, as prohibiting transgender girls from participating in sports that align with their gender identity instead of their sex assigned at birth. The executive order threatens to remove all federal funding from programs that do not comply.
ImpactinMinnesota: This executive order directly violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which holds that transgender students have a right to participate in school athletics and use facilities consistent with their gender identity. This interpretation of the MHRA has been upheld by many courts.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into the Minnesota State High School League over their (lack of) compliance with the order.
Since 2015, the MSHSL has allowed transgender athletes to participate in sports that align with their gender identity.
On Feb. 20, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison released a formal legal opinion that this executive order does not supersede Minnesota state law and that complying with it would be a violation of the MHRA. On April 25, Ellison’s office sued the Trump Administration on behalf of the state and asked a federal court to declare the ban unconstitutional and prevent the administration from enforcing it.
Status: Facing legal challenges. Currently, no decisions have been issued the MSHSL policy in transgender athletes still stands.
“Dear Colleague” letter, END DEI portal and proof of compliance
What they are: On Feb. 14, the acting assistant secretary of education issued a letter to schools and universities threatening loss of federal funding if they continued what it calls “impermissible DEI” activities. Using an incredibly broad interpretation of the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (which held that federally-funded colleges and universities cannot use race as a factor in admissions), the letter argues that the SFFA ruling means that federal law prohibits public education institutions from using race as a factor in almost any context: “race-based decision making, in any form, remains impermissible.”
The DOE then created an “end DEI” online portal for people to report learning institutions that are allegedly engaging in “illegal discriminatory practices.” The DOE claims that it will use submissions to identify areas of investigation.
In April, the DOE sent out a request for state and local education leaders to certify that they had eliminated DEI programs, disguised as “compliance” with Title VI, which prevents racial discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.
Impact in Minnesota: If allowed to proceed, these measures would impact programs across the state that seek to eliminate race-based barriers to education, along with cultural competency and other programs that are required by state statute.
The Minnesota Department of Education rejected the USDOE’s request to certify compliance and challenged the federal DOE’s authority to require certification as a condition to receive federal funds.
Status: Temporarily blocked. In March, the NEA and the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the letter, arguing that it is too vague to effectively follow, a violation of the First Amendment and a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. The U.S. District Court of New Hampshire agreed with NEA and ACLU’s argument and granted a preliminary injunction, which blocked the letter, the END DEI portal and the Title VI compliance directive. The injunction effectively stops the USDOE from enforcing any of these measures in a district with NEA members. Several states, including Minnesota, also took legal action to preemptively block these measures.
Linda McMahon confirmed as Secretary of Education, mass layoffs at USDOE and the “wind down” executive order
What they are: Linda McMahon was confirmed as Secretary of Education in February. McMahon, a co-founder of Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment, former Trump superPAC chairwoman and former administrator of the Small Business Administration, has no background in education and shared in her confirmation hearing that she agrees with the president’s attempts to close the DOE, supports voucher expansion and supports folding important programs like Title I, the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act and the Office of Civil Rights into other federal departments, such as Health and Human Services.
Shortly after her confirmation, the USDOE announced that they were laying off almost half their staff. In addition to 600 employees who accepted voluntary resignations or retired, the department eliminated around 1,300 positions, mainly in the Federal Student Aid and civil rights divisions.
On March 20, the President signed an executive order directing Secretary McMahon to begin winding down the DOE and to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education” to “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
Impact in Minnesota: The biggest impact we anticipate is to funds from the federal government. Minnesota receives approx. $1.1 billion in federal funding just for K-12 education programs, and closing the USDOE puts that money at risk. Staff reductions and further wind-down actions may make it harder for schools to access funds and continue federally-backed programs.
Status: Currently facing legal challenges. NEA is leading a lawsuit to stop the closure of the USDOE and restore the employees that have been let go.
More information
The Minnesota Management and Budget department has created a dashboard to track federal funding interruptions in the state, which you can access at mn.gov/mmb/budget/federal-investments/data-and-reporting. This dashboard includes all federal funding and is not education-specific.
For education-specific funding breakdowns at the state level, NEA has a tracker on their website, which you can access at edmn.me/fundtracker.
For updates and ways to take action, check out the Action Center on our website and follow our social media channels
