President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Wednesday, including multiple directives that seek to further cut diversity, equity, and inclusion policies from influencing education.
The orders covered a host of topics, including artificial intelligence, foreign funding of universities, accreditation associations, and school discipline policies. Trump signed them in the Oval Office with Education Secretary Linda McMahon at his side.
One of the orders rolled back school disciplinary guidance issued during the Obama administration that told schools across the country that they could lose federal funding “if their disciplinary decisions ran afoul of a newly imposed disparate-impact framework under which race-neutral disciplinary policies, applied in an even-handed manner, may be improper if members of any racial groups are suspended, expelled, or referred to law enforcement at higher rates than others.”
Trump wrote that the Obama guidance “required schools to discriminate on the basis of race by imposing discipline based on racial characteristics, rather than on objective behavior alone.” The order mandates that schools do not consider race when enforcing discipline policies.
Several executive orders focus on education at the university level, including one that goes after accreditors, whom Trump writes have “abused their enormous authority” by forcing universities to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Specifically named in the executive order are the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which calls for institutions to implement “policies and procedures related to recruitment and retention of individuals underrepresented in medicine,” specifically including racial minorities.
“The Secretary of Education shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, hold accountable, including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition, accreditors who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law, including by requiring institutions seeking accreditation to engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives,” Trump wrote.
Another higher education executive order calls for greater transparency around the foreign funding of American universities and calls for the Education Department and the Justice Department to develop more stringent reporting requirements.
“It is the policy of my Administration to end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions, protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation,” Trump wrote.
Another order directs the formation of an artificial intelligence task force to “promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans” by integrating AI into education, providing AI training for teachers, and “fostering early exposure to AI.”
The final two education-related orders establish a White House initiative for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, while another directs the creation of additional workforce development programs with the goal of enabling Americans “to produce world-class products and implement world-leading technologies.”
A separate executive order directed the federal government to stop using disparate impact theory in government policy and regulations. The order defines disparate impact theory as the “presumption” that “unlawful discrimination exists where there are any differences in outcomes in certain circumstances among different races, sexes, or similar groups, even if there is no facially discriminatory policy or practice or discriminatory intent involved, and even if everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.”
Trump wrote that this theory undermines America’s values of meritocracy and a colorblind society while also violating the Constitution.
“It is the policy of the United States to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in all contexts to the maximum degree possible to avoid violating the Constitution, Federal civil rights laws, and basic American ideals,” Trump wrote, revoking the use of disparate impact for Justice Department actions taken to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits government funding from going to entities that discriminate based on race.
The post <a href=https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-takes-sledgehammer-to-dei-in-latest-round-of-executive-orders-targeting-education target=_blank >Trump Takes Sledgehammer To DEI In Latest Round Of Executive Orders Targeting Education</a> appeared first on Conservative Angle | Conservative Angle - Conservative News Clearing House
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