Education Department slashes grants for training teachers on ‘divisive ideologies’

(The Hill) — The Education Department said on Monday it is slashing grants for training teachers because the programs focused on “divisive ideologies.” 

The department cut $600 million to these programs it says focused on topics such as critical race theory, diversity, equity and inclusion, social justice, anti-racism, white privilege and white supremacy.  

The agency gave examples from grant applications such as a program that required “practitioners to take personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities (e.g., racism) and critically reassess their own practices.” 

“Building historical and sociopolitical understandings of race and racism to interrupt racial marginalization and oppression of students in planning instruction relationship building discipline and assessment,” another program description read, according to the department.  

The cuts build on the hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts the department has cut from the Institute of Education Sciences, which focuses on education research and administers tests such as the National Assessment of Education Progress.  

“It’s hard to overstate how radical these teacher trainings are — we are talking about forcing teachers to talk about their race at work, asking educators to ‘take personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities,’ promoting abolitionist teaching practices and defining equity as equal outcomes. And not for nothing but all we see are declining outcomes for the students that these trainings purport to help most,” said Erika Sanzi, director of outreach at Parents Defending Education.