Defending & Advancing Education Equity Amid Federal Rollbacks
A toolkit for upholding student rights and advancing a more just, equitable education system
Every student deserves a safe, inclusive learning environment where their dignity, identity, and rights are fully honored. In Minnesota, building an education system rooted in racial justice and equity is not only a reflection of our shared values—it is a legal obligation and the foundation for a stronger future for our state.
Yet that vision is now under threat. A coordinated, racialized wave of federal rollbacks and threats seeks to undermine civil rights protections, censor inclusive teaching, and deny access to a just, equitable education, particularly for students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant and undocumented learners, and LGBTQ+ youth.
This toolkit equips educators, school leaders, and advocates with legal clarity, narrative tools, and community-centered strategies to push back against these federal threats and push forward toward an inclusive, equitable education system where every learner is valued, supported, and uplifted to thrive.
In this Toolkit
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What This Toolkit Helps You Do
This toolkit is designed to support your leadership as a Minnesota educator, school leader, school staff member, or education advocate to push forward, boldly and lawfully, with strategies that center racial equity, student belonging, and inclusive education.
Grounded in Minnesota law, civil rights protections, and equity-driven best practices, this living resource helps you resist harmful federal rollbacks and misinformation while advancing school policies, practices, and narratives that build equitable and effective learning environments for every student.
It equips you with the tools, insights, and strategies to:
Pushing Back and Pushing Forward—Together
Guiding principles for advancing the just, inclusive education system Minnesota deserves
Across Minnesota, educators, students, families, and advocates are united in resisting harmful federal rollbacks and working together to advance a bold, shared vision for just, inclusive public education.
This moment demands clarity, courage, and collaboration to build the education system rooted in learning, liberation, and opportunity for every learner.
Together, we are:
- Pushing back against federal threats that seek to dismantle civil rights, override Minnesota law, and erase student racial, cultural, and linguistic identities.
- Pushing forward a bold, community-led vision for racially just, fully funded, and inclusive public education system in Minnesota.
We must act collectively and urgently to protect student rights, strengthen our schools, and shape a more racially equitable and prosperous future for Minnesota by:
We’re fighting for sustained investment in the people, resources, and partnerships that make racial equity a reality in Minnesota schools.
That means long-term funding to recruit and retain diverse educators, expand culturally validating pedagogy, guarantee language access, strengthen mental health supports, and sustain community-driven strategies that improve outcomes for students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant and undocumented learners.
Racial equity demands more than promises.
It requires lasting, well-resourced infrastructure that affirms every student’s humanity, nurtures their identities and aspirations, and dismantles the racial disparities and disproportionality that persist across education systems.
We won’t let censorship or legal threats undo decades of civil rights progress. We’re advancing policies that:
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Protect equity-focused curriculum and inclusive instruction so every student learns the truth of our histories and the realities of our communities.
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Defend educators’ right to teach truthfully without fear of censorship, retaliation, or funding loss.
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Enforce accountability for racial disparities in student outcomes, discipline, and access to opportunities.
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Safeguard immigrant, multilingual, and undocumented students through affirming policies, language access, and support services.
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Guarantee safety, dignity, and belonging for students of color, Indigenous students, LGBTQ+ learners, and all those targeted by exclusionary policies.
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Codify racial equity in local and state policy to ensure lasting protections beyond shifting federal politics.
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Secure sustained, equitable funding to resource racial equity strategies, student supports, and diverse educator pipelines.
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Strengthen civil rights enforcement statewide so violations are addressed swiftly and effectively.
Each student deserves to see their unique identity, experiences, and language affirmed and reflected in their classrooms.
Culturally Validating Pedagogy represents the cornerstone of an educational system rooted in democratic principles and self-actualization. It validates each learner, communicating each student’s identity is complete, and that each student can inform society. It connects to the human purpose because it recognizes the worthiness and wholeness of each learner in their full beauty as a racial, ethnic, and cultural person.
We’re advocating for culturally affirming, multilingual, and student-centered learning environments to ensure every Minnesota school is a safe space for learning, growth, and opportunity for every learner, especially for students of color, Indigenous students, LGBTQ+ students, and immigrant and multilingual learners who are being targeted by federal rollbacks.
Schools should be sanctuaries where every student has the tools, resources, and support they need to thrive.
We’re advocating for safe, inclusive learning environments grounded in culturally validating and trauma-informed practices that nurture each student’s dignity, needs, and aspirations and improve connections and school performance for each learner.
Safety for each student means upholding their human and educational rights, protecting them from political harm and exclusionary policies, and honoring their unique identities and using the culture, the lived experiences, the language(s), and the knowledge students bring from home to maximize learning ensures that each student feels seen, heard, and loved.
Communities must be decision-makers, not simply recipients of education services. We work to ensure that students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant students, and multilingual learners and their families are central in shaping school policies, practices, and priorities that reflect their lived experiences and aspirations.
Equity must be driven by the people closest to students. That means trusting educators, school leaders, families, and community members to design solutions that reflect the lived experiences, aspirations, and strengths and assets of their students and communities.
We are pushing back against federal mandates that ignore local context—and pushing forward local autonomy that empowers schools to lead with care, collaboration, and justice.
Local autonomy means co-creating policies and practices with communities, not for them, and ensuring every decision supports inclusive learning environments critical for the success of every learner.
Section 1:
Defending Student Rights & Upholding Education Equity for Every Learner
Protecting & Advancing Your Equity Mission
Understanding the current federal threats and what the law still requires.
Across the country, federal policymakers are driving sweeping rollbacks that threaten civil rights, racial equity, and inclusive education.
These are not symbolic gestures. They are coordinated attacks meant to silence educators, erase the identities and rights of students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant and undocumented students, and LGBTQ+ learners, and dismantle the very tools schools rely on to create learning environments where every learner is safe, affirmed, and able to thrive in their full humanity and dignity.
Educators and school leaders are being told that equity is “illegal,” that inclusion is a liability, and that speaking truthfully about race or gender identity could cost them federal funding. These scare tactics are designed to sow confusion and fear, pressuring schools to retreat from their core values. But in Minnesota, equity and inclusion are not only values—they are legal obligations and civil rights protections that educators are required to uphold.
This section provides the tools to push back. It grounds you in the law, equips you to challenge federal misinformation, and gives you the narrative clarity to speak with conviction to students, families, and communities about the dignity, safety, and rights every learner is guaranteed in Minnesota.
It helps educators, advocates, and school leaders to:
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Name the threats and describe their harms with honesty and precision.
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Affirm legal protections under Minnesota law, including equity strategies misrepresented as “illegal.”
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Push back boldly with values-based, student-centered narratives that advance your district and school mission.
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Communicate clearly about the purpose and power of equity in education.
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Stay grounded in civil rights, legal obligations, and community commitments to equity that continue to guide schools across Minnesota.
1. Federal Directives Are Dismantling Racial Equity Infrastructure in Schools.
Stripping schools of the investments, programs, and staff needed to uphold equitable education policies and practices and fulfill Minnesota's legal obligations.
Federal rollbacks to equity infrastructure are not abstract policy shifts. They are targeted, coordinated attacks on equity, belonging, and inclusion, designed to harm students, undermine educators, and Minnesota’s public education system and future promise.
The harm is both immediate and long-term. Students lose access to essential supports, educators are pressured into retreat, and schools are left without the tools required to meet Minnesota’s legal and ethical obligations to support every learner equitably and effectively.
This section outlines the impacts of removing equity infrastructure so school leaders can push back and push forward to defend student rights, advance racial equity, and safeguard the future of public education in Minnesota.
1. Federal rollbacks make it harder for districts to provide equitable student supports critical for every learner’s success.
- By casting racial equity strategies as “unlawful,” federal leaders are pressuring districts to delay, rename, or eliminate programs designed to close racial disparities.
- The Impact: Students loose critical access to culturally responsive tutoring, mentoring, and targeted supports and interventions, resources and supports, deepening inequities and undermining Minnesota’s constitutional promise of an adequate education for every learner.
2. Erasing race-based goals undermines culturally responsive strategies, student belonging, and accountability.
- Some districts are scrubbing Minnesota-mandated race equity goals from strategic plans to appear “neutral” under increased federal scrutiny.
- The Impact: When goals disappear, accountability disappears—making inequities harder to confront and signaling to students of color, Indigenous students, and immigrant students that their histories, identities, and cultures are not worthy and their success is not a priority.
3. Equity staff positions are targeted and eliminated, stripping schools of critical resources.
- To avoid the federal weaponization that “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” is illegal, (though courts have repeatedly struck this down) districts are cutting or reclassifying staff roles dedicated to equity supports, training, and culturally responsive practices.”
- The Impact: Without this infrastructure, schools lose the expertise and capacity to meet state equity requirements, respond to harm, and build and be accountable to the safe, supportive, and culturally validating, inclusive environments critical to every learner’s dignity, safety, and success.
4. Students lose access to safe, affirming learning environments, threatening Minnesota’s public education future.
- As equity programs and staff are stripped away, students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant learners, and LGBTQ+ students lose access to trusted mentors, culturally relevant programs, and safe environments that protect their dignity, nurture belonging, and close opportunity gaps.
- The Impact: Students are left less safe, less seen, and less supported. They face higher barriers to learning, greater risk of isolation and discrimination, and fewer opportunities to thrive as their full selves—weakening Minnesota’s public education system and threatening the state’s social and economic future.
A just and equitable education system recognizes every student’s full humanity, affirms their unique identities, and actively works to close racial, social, and economic opportunity gaps rooted in systemic inequities and racial harm.
Yet federal rollbacks are attacking that foundation by casting equity “unlawful.”
These actions are part of a deliberate, racialized strategy to:
- Impose a narrow vision of America.
The intent is to elevate one cultural identity as the norm while silencing others, enforcing a worldview rooted in white Christian nationalism. By narrowing who “belongs” in schools, federal leaders aim to marginalize students of color, Indigenous students, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ youth and to define public education as serving only some, not all. - Redefine equity as illegal.
By branding DEI programs and culturally responsive practices as “unlawful,” the strategy is to delegitimize equity itself—casting proven approaches to closing racial gaps as dangerous. The intent is to stop schools from addressing inequities by turning the very tools of justice into supposed violations. - Erase accountability.
Eliminating equity offices, benchmarks, and staff is not just about cutting resources—it’s about removing the mechanisms that make schools answerable for disparities. The intent is to weaken enforcement so inequities remain hidden, responsibility is diffused, and discrimination goes unchecked. - Control the narrative to further a harmful agenda.
Punishing schools for acknowledging race or equity is not just about silencing truth—it’s about rewriting it. The intent is to preserve existing power structures by denying systemic racism, erasing marginalized histories, and framing equity itself as the real threat. This narrative shift is designed to make injustice invisible and unchallengeable.
The Intent is Clear:
Federal rollbacks are designed to preserve existing power structures by erasing truth, delegitimizing equity, and narrowing who belongs in public education—at the direct expense of students of color, Indigenous students, immigrants, multilingual learners, and LGBTQ+ youth.
What’s Already Affirmed in Law:
Courts have consistently reaffirmed that the federal government cannot redefine equity strategies as “illegal.” Rollbacks that conflict with civil rights statutes are unenforceable.
Recent Court Rulings Blocking Federal Rollbacks:
- Maryland (August 2025): A federal judge permanently blocked the Department of Education’s anti-DEI mandates and guidance, ruling they exceeded legal authority and violated due process
Higher Ed Dive Coverage - New Hampshire & Washington, D.C. (April 2025): Federal courts issued injunctions halting threats to penalize schools for implementing equity practices, finding them likely unlawful.
Washington Post Coverage - Ongoing litigation: The ACLU and civil rights partners continue to litigate rollbacks that target DEI, equity strategies, and culturally responsive practices.
What This Means:
Equity infrastructure, strategies, and practices cannot be erased by executive order. Courts have affirmed that these directives conflict with civil rights law and are unenforceable.
Districts must continue to follow and implement state mandates to uphold and center student rights and advance racial equity in education, regardless of federal rollbacks.
- The Minnesota Constitution Article XIII, Section 1
Requires the legislature to establish a “general and uniform system of public schools,” interpreted as guaranteeing equitable access to education for all Minnesota students, regardless of immigration status. - The Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.13)
Prohibits discrimination “in any manner in the full utilization of or benefit from any educational institution” based on race, national origin, and other protected classes. - The Achievement and Integration statute (Minn. Stat. § 124D.861)
Requires districts to develop and implement clear policies and strategies to close academic achievement and opportunity gaps. - The Safe and Supportive Schools Act requires schools to create safe and supportive learning environments, including anti-bullying protections and affirming policies for students targeted by harassment, especially marginalized students such as students of color, immigrant, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ students.
Despite federal attempts to sow confusion and pressure schools into retreat, Minnesota’s obligations remain clear: racial equity is both a legal requirement and a moral responsibility.
What educators can do right now:
Know and claim your educator rights.
- Minnesota law and PELSB standards require educators to uphold student civil rights, teach truthfully, and create equitable, inclusive learning environments. You are empowered—and obligated—to:
- Teach accurate, inclusive curriculum that reflects students’ identities and histories.
- Affirm student dignity and belonging through culturally responsive practices.
- Address racial disparities in achievement, access, and discipline.
- Prevent discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, gender identity, or immigration status.
Know and communicate your educator responsibilities.
- Minnesota law requires districts to address racial disparities, prevent discrimination, and use culturally responsive practices.
- Retreating from this work risks violating civil rights and leaves students without the supports they are entitled to.
Protect equity staff and infrastructure.
- Maintain equity positions, data systems, and culturally responsive training—even if labels shift.
- Reframing doesn’t mean retreating; compliance with Minnesota law requires capacity.
Keep race equity goals visible.
- Do not scrub race-based goals from strategic plans. They are legally required under Minnesota law.
- Communicate clearly with staff and communities that these goals are about compliance, stronger schools, and every learner’s dignity and success
Communicate your school mission with clarity and conviction.
- Push back on misinformation by naming equity as both lawful and essential.
- Frame equity work as advancing Minnesota’s promise of safe, affirming schools for all.
Stand on strong protections.
- Title VI and Title IX still prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, and gender identity.
- These protections remain in force, regardless of shifting federal directives.
Refuse unlawful rollbacks.
- Federal attempts to brand equity as “illegal” have already been blocked in court.
- You are not required to pre-comply with harmful directives, and doing so undermines both student rights and district compliance with Minnesota law.
Keep moving equity forward.
- In Minnesota, equity strategies are not optional—they are mandated.
- Advancing racial equity, closing opportunity gaps, and affirming student dignity remain essential to building schools where every learner can thrive.
Counter harmful narratives
- Name these threats to equity infrastructure and supports for schools for what they are: unlawful rollbacks designed to silence truth and delegitimize and erase diverse student cultural, racial, linguistic, and gender identities.
- Communicate clearly with families, staff, and students about what Minnesota law protects — and why equity, safety, and belonging remain central to your school’s mission.
Push Back / Push Forward Together.
Minnesota’s leaders, courts, and civil rights organizations have affirmed: equity strategies are protected, expected, and supported. Schools must stand together, alongside students and communities, to defend Minnesota’s values, reject federal overreach, and support a fully funded, equitable public education system—and a future Minnesota—rooted in equity, belonging, and shared responsibility.
A deeper dive into legal analysis, commentary, thought leadership, and news resources that detail the impact of federal rollbacks and provide insight and strategies for pushing forward to advance racial equity in education.
The Regulatory Review: The War on DEI
Expert analysis of how federal rollbacks are dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructure nationwide.
Read more at the Regulatory Review.
Cultural & DEI Centers Closing Across States, Though Students Call Them Lifelines
Universities in at least six states have shuttered multicultural centers under anti-equity laws, impacting student higher-ed access and success
Read more in Washington Post
Chronicle of Higher Education: Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI
A detailed look at how colleges are eliminating DEI offices and staff under mounting political pressure, and what it means for education equity and student outcomes.
Read Chronicle story
K–12 Dive: Grant Cuts Threaten Diverse Teacher Pipelines
UCLA research finds that cutting DEI-related grants undermines teacher diversity and harms schools and student outcomes.
Read K-12 Dive
19 States, Including Minnesota, Sue Over DEI Funding Threats
Multi-state lawsuit challenges federal directives tying education funding to elimination of DEI programs.
Read more at Politico
2. Federal Directives Are Undermining Civil Rights Protections in Schools
Weakening the enforcement systems that safeguard student rights, creating fear and confusion, and leaving inequities unchallenged.
Civil rights protections are among the strongest tools schools have to ensure students are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. They hold districts accountable for addressing racial disparities, protecting LGBTQ+ students, and creating environments where every learner can thrive as their full self.
Yet federal rollbacks are striking at the heart of these protections—weakening enforcement, misusing Title VI to cast equity as “discrimination,” and intimidating educators into silence.
These rollbacks are deliberate efforts to strip students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant and undocumented learners, and LGBTQ+ youth of their rights, while pressuring schools to abandon their legal and moral commitments to equity and inclusion.
This section outlines how eliminating civil rights protections harms Minnesota students and communities, why it matters for schools, and how leaders can push back and push forward to uphold justice, safety, and opportunity for every learner.
1. New policies weaponize civil rights law, turning protections into punishments.
- By twisting Title VI, officials are framing racial equity programs as “discrimination.” Districts are halting equity audits, affinity groups, and culturally specific supports out of fear they will be branded unlawful.
- The Impact: This flips protections against the very students they were meant to serve, leaving students of color, Indigenous students, and multilingual learners less supported, less valued, and more vulnerable.
2. Discipline disparities go unchecked, increasing racial harm.
- With protections on racially disproportionate discipline eliminated, districts are retreating from efforts to track or reduce suspensions, expulsions, and policing disparities.
- The Impact: Students of color continue to face harsher, exclusionary discipline practices and policies while racial equity training for educators and restorative alternatives are sidelined—further exacerbating disproportionate discipline disparities, racial harm, and the school-to-prison pipeline, while eroding trust in schools as safe, supportive places for students of color and Indigenous students.
3. Civil rights accountability systems dismantled, leaving violations and inequities unaddressed.
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By weakening the Office for Civil Rights, federal leaders have made clear that discrimination complaints will not be meaningfully investigated. Districts are scaling back data collection, reporting, and training tied to compliance of civil rights law.
- The Impact: Without strong accountability, racial disparities in discipline, access, and achievement go undiscovered and unaddressed. Students of color, Indigenous students, immigrant learners, and LGBTQ+ students lose critical avenues for justice when their rights are violated, while schools face fewer consequences for failing to protect them.
4. Federal threats silence educators and erase student identity.
- By calling equity, gender identity, and systemic racism as words of “radical indoctrination,” federal directives create a chilling effect: educators self-censor classrooms and leadership spaces and retreat from supporting every learner’s unique needs, identities, and aspirations.
- The Impact: Students are denied accurate histories, affirming curriculum, and representation in learning, teaching them that their cultural, racial, linguistic, and gender identities are unworthy and too “dangerous” to acknowledge.
5. Weakened civil rights enforcement leaves students more vulnerable to harm.
- As federal oversight erodes, schools are stripped of their critical role as civil rights protectors, undermining public education’s promise of dignity, safety, and opportunity for every learner.
- The Impact: Districts feel less pressure to intervene when discrimination, harassment, or exclusion occurs, and LGBTQ+ students, students of color, and immigrant learners face heightened risks of bias, bullying, harm, and isolation.
These actions are part of a deliberate, racialized strategy to:
- Misuse civil rights law to attack equity.
By twisting Title VI to brand equity strategies as “discrimination,” federal leaders seek to delegitimize proven tools that close racial gaps and affirm student identities. - Silence educators and erase truth.
By labeling discussions of race, gender identity, or systemic inequity as “radical indoctrination,” these rollbacks are designed to intimidate teachers into silence and deny students honest, affirming education. - Roll back decades of progress.
Weakening the Office for Civil Rights and rescinding guidance on racial disparities in discipline reverses hard-won protections that held schools accountable for bias and systemic harm. - Enforce compliance through fear.
Threats of funding cuts, investigations, or even criminal liability pressure districts to retreat from equity, even when the law requires them to act.
The Intent is Clear:
These rollbacks are intended to weaponize civil rights law against the very students it was created to protect — erasing protections, silencing educators, and normalizing racial and gender discrimination in our schools.
What’s Already Affirmed in Law:
Federal courts have reaffirmed that civil rights statutes — including Title VI and Title IX — continue to protect students from discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, and gender identity. Attempts to reinterpret these laws to punish equity strategies or inclusive practices have been found unlawful.
Recent Court Rulings Blocking Federal Rollbacks:
- Maryland (August 2025): A federal judge struck down Department of Education guidance that sought to redefine equity strategies as violations of Title VI, ruling it unconstitutional and procedurally invalid.
Higher Ed Dive coverage - Virginia (August 2025): Fairfax and Arlington school districts filed suit against federal threats to strip funding from schools with transgender-inclusive policies, arguing the directives violate Title IX and state-level protections. Case pending, injunction requested.
Politico analysis - Ongoing litigation: ACLU and partners continue to challenge federal orders that erode civil rights enforcement, including cases against book bans, transgender exclusion, and weakened discipline protections.
What This Means for Minnesota Schools & Students:
Civil rights protections cannot be undone by executive order.
Title VI and Title IX remain firmly in place, and courts have blocked federal attempts to misuse these laws to punish schools. Schools are still legally — and morally — obligated to protect students from discrimination and advance equity in education.
Districts must continue to follow and implement state mandates to uphold and center student civil and educational rights and advance racial equity in education, regardless of federal rollbacks.
- The Minnesota Constitution Article XIII, Section 1: Requires the legislature to establish a “general and uniform system of public schools,” interpreted as guaranteeing equitable access to education for all Minnesota students, regardless of immigration status.
- The Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.13) prohibits discrimination “in any manner in the full utilization of or benefit from any educational institution” based on race, national origin, and other protected classes.
- The Achievement and Integration statute (Minn. Stat. § 124D.861) requires districts to develop and implement clear policies and strategies to close academic achievement and opportunity gaps.
- The Safe and Supportive Schools Act requires schools to create safe and supportive learning environments, including anti-bullying protections and affirming policies for students targeted by harassment, especially marginalized students such as students of color, immigrant, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ students.
Under Minnesota law, districts must continue to address racial disparities, uphold civil rights protections, and create inclusive environments where every learner is safe, affirmed, and able to thrive.
What educator can do right now:
Stand firm on civil rights enforcement.
- Title VI and Title IX remain in full effect, prohibiting race, national origin, sex, and gender identity discrimination.
- Minnesota’s Safe and Supportive Schools Act (121A.031) requires affirming school environments.
Address discipline disparities.
- Even without federal guidance, districts are required under Minnesota law to monitor and address racial disparities in discipline.
- Invest in restorative practices and culturally validating pedagogy training for educators and staff.
Protect inclusive teaching.
- Minnesota’s teacher licensure standards require educators to teach truthfully about race, history, and identity.
- Self-censorship risks violating student rights and state standards.
Defend & support LGBTQ+ students.
- Title IX, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and the Safe and Supportive Schools Act guarantee protections.
- Maintain policies affirming gender identity, name/pronoun use, and safe access to facilities.
Empower & support educators and families.
- Make clear that threats of funding loss or “liability” are unfounded.
- Communicate protections and rights widely to staff, students, and families.
Counter harmful narratives.
- Make clear to your staff, students, and school communities that equity is not “illegal.” Communicate that protecting student civil rights — in curriculum, discipline, and school climate — is both a legal mandate and a core Minnesota value.
Push Back/Push Forward together.
Minnesota leaders, civil rights organizations, and the courts have affirmed that civil rights enforcement remains protected and expected. Schools that move forward in solidarity not only comply with the law, they strengthen public trust and uphold Minnesota’s values of dignity and opportunity for every leaner.
A deeper dive into legal analysis, commentary, thought leadership, and news resources that detail the impact of federal rollbacks and provide strategies for pushing forward to advance racial equity in education.
Interfaith Alliance – EO 14190’s Chilling Impact on Racial Justice Education
Insightful analysis explaining how Executive Order 14190 suppresses inclusive teaching, marginalizes racial justice pedagogy, and threatens educators’ ability to support LGBTQ+ students.
https://interfaithalliance.org/post/tracking-trumps-executive-orders-undermining-safe-learning-environments
Reuters: Teachers Report Self-Censorship Under Trump DEI Orders
Journalistic coverage highlighting how new federal directives have created a climate of fear in classrooms, leading educators to quietly avoid critical topics like race and gender.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-school-year-ends-under-shadow-trump-dei-orders-2025-06-16
Williams Institute (UCLA): Executive Order 14190’s Impact on Transgender Students
Research brief summarizing how the order jeopardizes students’ recognition, safe facility access, and use of pronouns—linking policy to adverse educational and mental health impacts.
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/dei-schools-eo-impact/
Rethinking Schools: The Chilling Effects of “CRT Bans”
Educator-focused commentary describing how bans not only block specific concepts but also suppress broader culturally responsive instruction, anti-racism, and social-emotional learning.
https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/the-chilling-effects-of-so-called-critical-race-theory-bans/
Brookings: Why Are States Banning Critical Race Theory?
A sociological exploration of the rise of anti-CRT laws, their misrepresentation of academic frameworks, and their harmful implications for teaching America’s racial history.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/
3. Federal Policy Is Targeting Immigrant Students Through Surveillance and Exclusion
Embedding fear and surveillance into schools, eroding trust, and driving immigrant students and families away from safe learning environments.
Schools should be places of safety and belonging, where every student has the resources and supportive environments they need to learn, thrive, and contribute to their classrooms and communities. Yet current federal policies are denying immigrant and undocumented learners of those rights by embedding fear, surveillance, and exclusion into public education.
These federal threats of ICE enforcement and deportation are deliberate efforts to make schools less accessible to immigrant students and families, undermine their dignity, safety, and opportunity, and weaken the communities schools are meant to serve.
This section underscores how immigrant students and families are losing trust, access, and safety in schools as a result of federal policies, and why this matters in your classrooms, district, and community.
1. Families are driven from schools by fear, breaking trust and disrupting learning.
- With “safe zone” protections revoked, immigrant families fear deportation and surveillance. Many are withdrawing from schools, leading to declining enrollment, disrupted learning, and fractured community ties.
- The Impact: Fear-based engagement denies students the consistent education they are entitled to, erodes family-school partnerships, and leaves districts unable to serve their communities effectively and equitably.
2. Students are stripped of their school privacy and safety rights.
- Expanded ICE access to student records pressures districts to share sensitive data. This violates privacy norms and undermines trust between families and schools
- The Impact: When schools become sites of surveillance, immigrant students and families no longer see them as safe places for learning, weakening public education as a whole.
3. Immigrant and multilingual learners are denied critical resources and supports.
- Funding tied to immigration enforcement has forced some districts to scale back or eliminate supports for immigrant students and English learners.
- The Impact: Students lose access to language services, counseling, and legal resources essential to enhancing outcomes for every learner—undermining student success, widening opportunity gaps, and undercutting Minnesota’s legal and moral commitment to multilingualism, inclusion, and equity.
4. Chronic absenteeism rises as fear keeps students home.
- As safety concerns outweigh the perceived benefit of school for thousands of families in Minnesota, immigrant students are missing more class time, often to avoid threats of surveillance, harassment, and deportation.
- The Impact: Students fall behind academically and socially, deepening inequities, increasing isolation, and weakening the fabric of public education and school communities across Minnesota.
A just and inclusive education system ensures that every student — regardless of immigration status — has access to safety, belonging, and the full promise of public education. Yet current federal directives are deliberately undermining that foundation by embedding fear, surveillance, and exclusion into schools.
These actions are part of a coordinated strategy to:
- Redefine who is deserving of public education.
By tying school access to immigration status, federal leaders send the message that undocumented and immigrant students are less deserving of education, erasing their rights and contributions. - Turn schools into extensions of immigration enforcement.
Expanding ICE access to student data and pressuring districts to cooperate with federal agents is designed to make families fear that schools are unsafe, pushing them out of classrooms. - Shrink access to supports that immigrant students need to thrive.
Cuts to language services, safe zones, and newcomer programs deliberately strip away resources that help immigrant and multilingual learners succeed. - Erode trust in public schools.
By embedding surveillance and exclusion, these rollbacks are meant to fracture relationships between schools and immigrant families, undermining the community trust schools depend on.
The Intent is Clear:
Federal leaders are using fear and exclusion to push immigrant students and families to the margins of public education — intentionally denying their educational and civil rights, erasing their dignity and opportunities, and weakening schools’ ability to serve every learner effectively and equitably.
What’s Already Affirmed in Law:
- The Supreme Court’s decision in Plyler v. Doe (1982) guarantees the right to a free public education for all children, regardless of immigration status.
- FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) prohibits schools from disclosing student information — including immigration status — without consent, protecting students from unlawful surveillance.
- Minnesota’s Constitution guarantees access to a “general and uniform system of public schools” for every child, regardless of immigration status.
Recent Court Rulings Blocking Rollbacks:
- California (2025): A federal district court blocked provisions requiring schools to share student data with ICE, finding them in violation of FERPA.
- Illinois (2024): A state court ruled that districts could not deny enrollment to undocumented students based on federal immigration directives, reaffirming Plyler v. Doe.
- Ongoing litigation: Civil rights and immigrant justice organizations continue to challenge federal orders that tie school funding to immigration enforcement, citing constitutional and civil rights violations.
What This Means for Minnesota Schools & Students:
Even under federal pressure, Minnesota schools cannot lawfully deny immigrant or undocumented students access to safe, supportive learning opportunities. Schools are obligated to protect student privacy, reject unlawful data-sharing requests, and provide safe, supportive spaces where immigrant students can learn, contribute, and thrive.
Federal attempts to coerce districts into compliance with immigration policy are unlawful, unenforceable, and directly at odds with students’ civil rights and Minnesota law.
Districts must continue to follow and implement state mandates to uphold and center student rights, including immigrant and undocumented students, regardless of federal rollbacks or orders.
- The Minnesota Constitution Article XIII, Section 1: Requires the legislature to establish a “general and uniform system of public schools,” interpreted as guaranteeing equitable access to education for all Minnesota students, regardless of immigration status.
- The Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.13) prohibits discrimination “in any manner in the full utilization of or benefit from any educational institution” based on race, national origin, and other protected classes.
- The Achievement and Integration statute (Minn. Stat. § 124D.861) requires districts to develop and implement clear policies and strategies to close academic achievement and opportunity gaps.
- The Safe and Supportive Schools Act requires schools to create safe and supportive learning environments, including anti-bullying protections and affirming policies for students targeted by harassment, especially marginalized students such as students of color, immigrant, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ students.
- See more in MnEEP’s Safe & Supportive Schools Toolkit.
All Minnesota schools should be places of safety and belonging, where every student, regardless of immigration status, has the opportunity to learn, thrive, and contribute. These moral and legal obligations are upheld in federal law and Minnesota statutes.
What educators can do right now:
Know your legal rights and responsibilities.
- Minnesota law and Plyler v. Doe guarantee every child’s right to a public education, regardless of immigration status.
- Districts must provide equal access to safe, supportive learning environments — this obligation does not change under federal rollbacks.
Protect student safety and privacy.
- The FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) FERPA in Minnesota state law prohibits the release of student information, including immigration-related data, without proper legal authorization.
- ICE or law enforcement must have a judicial warrant signed by a judge to access school grounds or obtain student information.
Affirm schools as safe zones.
- Make clear in policy and practice that immigration enforcement has no place in schools.
- Train staff on how to respond to ICE or law enforcement actions or requests.
Sustain supports for immigrant students.
- Minnesota’s Human Rights Act and Achievement and Integration Statute require schools to prevent discrimination, address disparities, and provide supports for multilingual learners.
- Cutting access and supports is unlawful and undermines student rights and success.
Engage immigrant families with trust.
- Provide translated communication about rights, resources, and school commitments to safety.
- Partner with community organizations to rebuild trust and relationships with community.
Track and address absenteeism.
-
Monitor rising absenteeism among immigrant students and intervene with supportive outreach—not punitive measures.
Counter harmful narratives
- Be proactive in assuring immigrant families that their children have the right to attend school without fear.
- Clear, multilingual communication about privacy protections and rights for immigrant, multilingual, and undocumented learners is critical for building strong, engaged school communites.
Explore more strategies and tools for upholding immigrant and undocumented student rights, dignity, and safety in the Creating Safe & Supportive Schools for Immigrant & Undocumented Learners Toolkit.
Push Back/Push Forward together.
State leaders, civil rights organizations, and courts have affirmed that Minnesota protects immigrant students’ rights. By standing together, schools comply with the law, strengthen public trust, and model the values of equity, safety, and belonging critical to the success of Minnesota’s public education system.
A deeper dive into legal analysis, commentary, thought leadership, and news resources that detail the impact of federal rollbacks and provide insight and strategies for pushing forward to advance racial equity in education.
American Immigration Council: Learning in the Shadows: How Immigration Enforcement Harms Students and Schools
Analysis of how enforcement near schools raises absenteeism, fear, and emotional harm among students and families.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/immigration-enforcement-harms-students-schools/
Stanford Study: Student Absences Rose After Immigration Raids
Research shows a roughly 22% increase in absences among K–5 students in California’s Central Valley during enforcement sweeps.
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/06/student-absences-immigration-california-study
Brookings Institution: What Harsh Immigration Policies Mean for Students, Families, and Schools
Explores threats to Head Start, adult learning, Title III funding, and full K–12 access rooted in initial protections like Plyler v. Doe.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-harsh-immigration-policies-mean-for-students-families-and-schools/
Migration Policy Institute: Schools Navigating Immigration Enforcement
Highlights how safe-zone policies benefit students at risk of deportation and underscores schooling as sanctuary.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/schools-immigrant-students-enforcement
4. Federal Policies Are Cutting Off Educational Pathways for Immigrant and Undocumented Learners
Blocking access to early learning, college readiness, and postsecondary opportunities—undermining cradle-to-career equity in Minnesota.
Every child has the right to an education, regardless of immigration status. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this in Plyler v. Doe (1982), ruling that denying undocumented children access to K–12 public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The federal cuts to education access for immigrant and undocumented learners are not neutral adjustments or simple budgetary cuts; they are deliberate efforts to deny immigrant and undocumented learners the right to belong in public education and to limit their futures.
These rollbacks are designed to make education conditional on immigration status, erase undocumented students from the continuum of supports, and reinforce a racialized narrative of who is “deserving” of investment and education access.
This section outlines how cutting off educational pathways harms Minnesota students and families, why cradle-to-career equity matters for schools and the state’s future, and how leaders can push back and push forward to protect access, dignity, and opportunity for immigrant and undocumented learners.
1. Early learning access is denied, widening opportunity gaps before kindergarten.
- Undocumented children are being barred from Head Start, undermining school readiness and widening opportunity gaps for tens of thousands of learners.
- The Impact: Denying early learning access entrenches inequities from the very start of a child’s education, creating lifelong barriers to opportunity.
2. College and career pathways are blocked, narrowing futures.
- Eligibility for dual enrollment, early college, and CTE programs is being stripped away, leaving students without supports critical to success beyond high school.
- The Impact: Students lose proven pathways that build skills, accelerate graduation, and prepare them for higher education and careers, weakening student success and Minnesota’s workforce pipeline and economic future.s
4. Tuition equity is threatened, closing doors to higher education.
- Federal threats pressure states and colleges to roll back in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented students, making higher education unattainable.
- The Impact: Students face unaffordable barriers to higher education, forcing many to abandon college aspirations, undermining Minnesota’s Dream Act, and eroding access and equity in higher education for tens of thousands of learners.
5. Adult education programs are dismantled, especially in under-resourced communities.
- Restrictions cut funding for ESL, GED, and workforce programs, particularly in rural areas.
- The Impact: Adult learners lose access to critical skills and credentials, immigrant families lose opportunities for stability and mobility, and Minnesota loses out on needed talent and workforce readiness.
6. Schools and families lose trusted supports.
- Mixed-status families are cut off from school-based programs that connect them to learning and community.
- The Impact: Students are left without safe, affirming supports that nurture belonging and success, isolating families and weakening school-community trust.
These policies are not about saving money or streamlining programs. They are part of a deliberate strategy to deny immigrant and undocumented students the full promise of public education.
These actions are part of a coordinated, racialized strategy to:
- Reinforce a racialized hierarchy of who belongs in public education.
These rollbacks uphold a dangerous narrative that white, native-born students are more “deserving” of investment, while immigrant students and families are treated as expendable, less worthy of resources, and less entitled to opportunity and belonging in public education. - Make opportunity conditional on immigration status.
By restricting access to Head Start, dual enrollment, tuition equity, and adult education, these policies are intended to send a clear message that education is not a right, but a privilege reserved for some. - Erase immigrant and undocumented students from education pathways.
Targeting early learning and postsecondary programs ensures that undocumented students are excluded from both the beginning and end of the educational journey. - Undermine cradle-to-career equity.
Dismantling the continuum of supports from pre-K through college directly undermines the infrastructure Minnesota relies on to close racial and economic gaps, ensure educational equity, and prepare all young people for future success.
The Intent is Clear:
These rollbacks are designed to narrow immigrant opportunities, weaken immigrant communities, and reshape public education into a system that reinforces racialized hierarchy and exclusion—where belonging and investment are reserved for some, and deliberately denied to others.
What’s Already Affirmed in Law:
While Plyler v. Doe protects K–12 access, lawsuits are now challenging whether federal attempts to restrict Head Start, dual enrollment, and tuition equity overstep constitutional limits and state authority over education. Courts are weighing whether federal bans on tuition equity unlawfully interfere with states’ power to set higher education policies.
The Court Response to Federal Rollbacks:
- Plyler v. Doe endures. The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision still guarantees undocumented children the right to free K–12 public education. No court has overturned this precedent, affirming that schools must remain accessible to all children regardless of immigration status.
- States pause enforcement of Head Start restrictions
In July 2025, nearly 20 states secured a court-approved temporary pause on new federal rules barring immigrant families from Head Start, dual enrollment, and adult education programs. This delay halts enforcement while litigation proceeds.
Read more:
https://www.oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/29/oregon-other-democratic-states-secure-40-day-pause-on-head-start-immigration-requirements - Texas Dream Act struck down. On June 4, 2025, a federal judge permanently invalidated Texas’s policy allowing undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition and state financial aid.
https://immigrationforum.org/article/blocking-of-texas-in-state-tuition-for-undocumented-students-explainer/ National Immigration Forum
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/texas-justice-department-lawsuit-undocumented-in-state-tuition - Some colleges forced to reclassify students. Following the Texas ruling, public colleges were ordered to identify undocumented students and classify them as out-of-state residents for tuition purposes, dramatically increasing costs.
https://www.kbtx.com/2025/06/25/texas-colleges-directed-identify-undocumented-students-change-their-tuition-out-of-state/ https://www.kbtx.com - Lawsuits mounting in response. The Austin Community College board, along with civil rights organizations, has filed motions to intervene and defend the Texas Dream Act, citing abrupt legislative and judicial changes that harm students and undermine institutional autonomy.
https://www.kut.org/education/2025-06-23/austin-tx-community-college-texas-dream-act-lawsuit-undocumented-students-in-state-tuition
What This Means for Minnesota Educators & Students:
The Plyler precedent continues to guarantee that every learner—regardless of immigration status—has the right to free K–12 education. Minnesota educators can confidently uphold this.
What’s more, Minnesota Dream Act allows Minnesota to retain authority over over tuition equity, financial aid, and college access, requiring colleges to continue providing immigrant and undocumented students with early learning, dual enrollment, and college pathways.
Federal attempts to restrict these programs cannot erase state-level commitments.
Districts must continue to follow and implement state mandates to uphold and center student rights, including immigrant and undocumented students, regardless of federal rollbacks or orders.
- The Minnesota Constitution Article XIII, Section 1: Requires the legislature to establish a “general and uniform system of public schools,” interpreted as guaranteeing equitable access to education for all Minnesota students, regardless of immigration status.
- The Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.13) Prohibits discrimination in education based on national origin, which includes language barriers.
- English Learner Education Statutes (§§ 124D.59–124D.61): Require schools to identify English Learners, notify families in their home language, and provide equitable access to instruction and services tailored to linguistic and academic needs.
- The Achievement and Integration statute (Minn. Stat. § 124D.861) Mandates districts address opportunity gaps, explicitly including multilingual students.
- The Safe and Supportive Schools Act requires schools to create safe and supportive learning environments, including multilingual learners who are often targets of harassment or exclusion.
- See more in MnEEP’s Safe & Supportive Schools Toolkit.
Despite federal attempts to cut immigrant and undocumented learners off from education, Minnesota law protects education access and equity for immigrant and undocumented learners—and educators have the power and responsibility to uphold it. These strategies ground your leadership in state protections and strengthen advocacy for every student’s right to learn.
Here’s what educators can do right now:
Affirm every student’s right to K–12 education.
- Under Plyler v. Doe and Minnesota’s Constitution, undocumented students cannot be denied access to K–12 public education.
- Make this clear in your school communications, enrollment practices, and family engagement so immigrant families know schools remain safe and accessible.
Protect early learning and college pathways.
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Actively develop strategies with school counselors, advisors, and community organizations to ensure immigrant and undocumented students have pathways to and are fully informed about post-secondary opportunities.
Defend tuition equity and state financial aid.
- Minnesota’s Dream Act guarantees in-state tuition and access to state aid for undocumented students.
- Ensure counselors, advisors, and families know these rights and share resources proactively in multiple languages.
Advocate publicly and clearly for immigrant student rights and achievement.
- Speak out against federal rollbacks that undermine cradle-to-career equity.
- Frame access to education for immigrant learners as both a civil rights obligation and an investment in Minnesota’s economic future.
Push Back/Push Forward Together.
Partner with immigrant-rights organizations, higher education institutions, and families to defend educational access. Collective action ensures students know they belong and strengthens the state’s resistance to harmful federal overreach.
Explore more strategies and tools for upholding immigrant and undocumented student rights, dignity, and safety in the Creating Safe & Supportive Schools for Immigrant & Undocumented Learners Toolkit.
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5. Federal Policy Is Erasing Language Rights for Multilingual Students and Families
Rolling back language access protections, silencing families, and denying students the communication and instruction they need to succeed.
Language access is more than translation. It is a right and a resource, and a critical tool for learning.
Federal rollbacks eliminating agency guidance on interpretation and translation strip away critical protections and send a dangerous message: that immigrant families and English Learners are less entitled to belonging, dignity, and opportunity in public schools.
These are not technical changes. They are deliberate efforts to silence students and families who speak languages other than English, making schools less accessible for immigrant learners and undermining Minnesota’s legal and moral commitments to language rights, multilingualism, and equity.
Language access is a civil right and a cornerstone of equity. When schools cannot communicate with families in their home languages or provide multilingual supports, students are denied equal opportunity, families are excluded, and the very promise of public education is undermined.
1. Families lose access to critical school communication.
- With federal guidance revoked, some districts are no longer providing translated IEPs, enrollment materials, or discipline notices.
- The Impact: Parents cannot advocate for their children or participate fully in their education, violating their rights and weakening school–family trust.
2. English Learners face unmet needs.
- Without clear federal requirements, some schools are cutting back on interpretation and translation services.
- The Impact: Students risk being excluded from instruction, assessments, and supports, widening opportunity gaps and undermining Minnesota’s goal of equitable outcomes for all learners.
3. Bilingual and dual-language programs are put at risk.
- By framing multilingual education as unnecessary, federal policies undermine programs that affirm students’ identities and expand opportunity.
- The Impact: Students lose access to culturally validating instruction proven to boost achievement, graduation rates, and long-term success.
4. Trust between schools and immigrant families is eroded.
- When families can’t access school communication in their home language, schools become sites of exclusion rather than belonging.
- The Impact: Parents disengage, students feel isolated, and community confidence in schools is weakened.
5. The long-term harm is systemic.
- Stripping away language access not only denies students the tools they need to succeed now, it dismantles the foundation Minnesota relies on to prepare students for a multilingual, global future.
- The Impact: Equity gaps widen, community trust frays, and Minnesota’s economic and civic future is weakened.
A just and inclusive education system ensures that every student — regardless of immigration status — has access to safety, belonging, and the full promise of public education.
Yet current federal directives are deliberately undermining that foundation by embedding fear, surveillance, and exclusion into schools.
These actions are part of a coordinated, racialized strategy to:
- Redefine who belongs in public education.
By tying school access to immigration status, federal leaders send the message that undocumented and immigrant students are less deserving of education, erasing their rights and contributions. - Turn schools into extensions of immigration enforcement.
Expanding ICE access to student data and pressuring districts to cooperate with federal agents is designed to make families fear that schools are unsafe, pushing them out of classrooms. - Shrink access to supports that immigrant students need to thrive.
Cuts to language services, safe zones, and newcomer programs deliberately strip away resources that help immigrant and multilingual learners succeed. - Erode trust in public schools.
By embedding surveillance and exclusion, these rollbacks are meant to fracture relationships between schools and immigrant families, undermining the community trust schools depend on.
The intent is clear:
Federal leaders are using fear and exclusion to push immigrant students and families to the margins of public education — denying their rights, erasing their dignity, and weakening schools’ ability to serve every learner effectively and equitably.
What’s Already Affirmed in Law:
Federal courts have long recognized language access as a core element of civil rights under Title VI. Cases such as Lau v. Nichols (1974) established that denying language services is discrimination. Current rollbacks have not overturned these precedents. Lawsuits are emerging that argue revoking federal language access guidance violates both civil rights law and equal protection guarantees.
- California (2025): A federal district court blocked provisions requiring schools to share student data with ICE, finding them in violation of FERPA.
- Illinois (2024): A state court ruled that districts could not deny enrollment to undocumented students based on federal immigration directives, reaffirming Plyler v. Doe.
- Ongoing litigation: Civil rights and immigrant justice organizations continue to challenge federal orders that tie school funding to immigration enforcement, citing constitutional and civil rights violations.
What This Means for Minnesota Schools & Students:
Even under federal pressure, Minnesota schools cannot lawfully deny immigrant or undocumented students access to safe, supportive learning opportunities. Schools are obligated to protect student privacy, reject unlawful data-sharing requests, and provide safe, supportive spaces where immigrant families feel supported and welcome.
Federal attempts to coerce districts into compliance with immigration policy are unlawful, unenforceable, and directly at odds with students’ civil rights and Minnesota law.
Districts must continue to follow and implement state mandates to uphold and center the rights of every learner, including immigrant and undocumented students, regardless of federal rollbacks or orders.
- The Minnesota Constitution Article XIII, Section 1: Requires the legislature to establish a “general and uniform system of public schools,” interpreted as guaranteeing equitable access to education for all Minnesota students, regardless of immigration status.
- The Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.13) prohibits discrimination “in any manner in the full utilization of or benefit from any educational institution” based on race, national origin, and other protected classes.
- The Achievement and Integration statute (Minn. Stat. § 124D.861) requires districts to develop and implement clear policies and strategies to close academic achievement and opportunity gaps.
- The Safe and Supportive Schools Act requires schools to create safe and supportive learning environments, including anti-bullying protections and affirming policies for students targeted by harassment, especially marginalized students such as students of color, immigrant, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ students.
- See more in MnEEP’s Safe & Supportive Schools Toolkit.
Despite harmful federal rhetoric and rollbacks, Minnesota law affirms that language access and multilingualism are critical to the success of every learner, strengthening classrooms and preparing students for a future in a diverse, multiracial democracy.
Here’s what educators can do right now:
Affirm language as a right and resource.
- Minnesota law (124D.59–61) requires equitable instruction and services for English Learners.
- The Minnesota Constitution and Human Rights Act guarantee nondiscrimination based on language or national origin.
Empower educators to uphold language rights.
- Train teachers and staff on their obligations under Minnesota law to provide equitable instruction for English Learners.
- Support professional development in culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy.
- Remind educators that protecting students’ home languages affirms identity, strengthens learning, and is legally required.
Maintain translation and interpretation.
- Provide translated IEPs, enrollment, and discipline materials regardless of federal rollbacks.
- Follow MDE’s Language Access Framework for compliance and best practice.
Center multilingualism in learning.
- Protect bilingual/dual language programs and heritage language instruction.
- Frame multilingual education as a strength and asset to Minnesota’s future.
Build family trust.
- Communicate proactively with immigrant and multilingual families in their home languages.
- Ensure parents know their rights to interpretation and full participation.
Advocate for inclusive policy.
- Call out federal rollbacks as harmful to students, families, and Minnesota’s economy.
- Work with legislators, unions, and community groups to affirm multilingualism as essential to equity and democracy.
Push Back/Push Forward together.
Minnesota has made clear: language access is not optional—it is a right, a resource, and a legal requirement. By affirming multilingualism, maintaining translation and interpretation, and centering language as an asset, schools protect student dignity, comply with state law, and strengthen community trust. Standing together, educators and communities can push back against harmful federal rollbacks and push forward a Minnesota where every student’s unique cultural, racial, gender, and linguistic identities are nurtured as vital assets in every classroom and school community.
A deeper dive into legal analysis, commentary, thought leadership, and news resources that detail the impact of federal rollbacks and provide strategies for pushing forward to advance racial equity in education.
EdSurge: Rolling Back Education Access for Undocumented Students
Covers the consequences of suspending in-state tuition, including rising dropout risks and identity-based targeting.
Read more at Ed Surge
AP News: Undocumented Students Losing Access to College Support
Cases in Florida and nationwide where rescinded tuition benefits force students into dropping out or redirecting life plans. Read more.
The 74 Million: Undocumented Students Rethink College in Texas
Highlights how Texas’ removal of in-state tuition options doubled financial barriers and disrupted educational trajectories.
https://www.the74million.org/article/undocumented-students-rethink-college-in-texas/
Presidents’ Alliance: Impact of Repealing In-State Tuition Policies
Deep dive into how such rollbacks undermine workforce retention, economic equity, and long-term community investment.
https://www.presidentsalliance.org/press/oklahoma-reversal-on-in-state-tuition-for-dreamers-hurts-students-undermines-education-and-state-economy/
Minnesota leaders have rejected federal pressure and reaffirmed that state-mandated equity initiatives and civil rights protections in education remain legally required and educationally necessary.
These include strategies to close racial opportunity gaps, multilingual access programs, anti-bias training, culturally responsive pedagogy, support for LGBTQ+ students, and other inclusive education practices.
How Minnesota is Responding to Federal Threats
1. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) refused to comply with vague federal DEI certification language sent by the U.S. Department of Education.
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNMDE/bulletins/3dade2a
https://www.fox9.com/news/minnesota-department-education-rejects-trump-order-dei-programs
- Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a formal legal memo (March 5, 2025) reaffirming that DEI initiatives remain legal under state and federal law. Minnesota joined 14 other states in defending equity programming.
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2025/03/05_DEIA_Schools_JointGuidance.asp - Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett stated that MDE will continue implementing equity efforts and federal education programs in compliance with existing law.
https://education.mn.gov/mdeprod/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dDocName=PROD086176&RevisionSelectionMethod=latestReleased&type=pdf
4. Minnesota is part of a multi-state resistance to certification threats aimed at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
https://apnews.com/article/b79551813a611ba6301f3f48252357ac
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-refuses-to-certify-dei-elimination-federal-education-funding-threatened/600370909/
Minnesota Constitution (Art. XIII, Sec. 1)
Guarantees every child in Minnesota the right to an “adequate” and “uniform” education—interpreted as requiring equitable access to learning for all students.
Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.13)
Prohibits discrimination in education based on race, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, disability, and other protected classes. Schools are legally required to prevent and address discrimination.
Achievement and Integration Statute (Minn. Stat. § 124D.861)
Requires school districts to adopt plans and strategies to close academic achievement and opportunity gaps, specifically including racial disparities.
Safe and Supportive Schools Act (Minn. Stat. § 121A.031)
Mandates schools to create safe and supportive learning environments, including anti-bullying protections and affirming practices for students most often targeted—students of color, Indigenous, immigrant, multilingual, and LGBTQ+ learners.
PELSB Standards of Effective Practice for Teachers (Minn. R. 8710.2000)
Licensure rules require educators to:
- Create inclusive and equitable learning environments.
- Teach truthfully about diverse histories, cultures, and perspectives.
- Uphold the dignity, identity, and rights of all students.
Federal Protections That Still Apply (Title VI and Title IX)
Even with federal rollbacks, Title VI prohibits racial discrimination and Title IX prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination in schools. These remain enforceable in Minnesota.
SECTION 2
Building Student-Centered Narratives for Pushing Back, Pushing Forward
SUBHEAD 1
SUBHEAD 2 Equity Is Still Legal. Mission Still Matters.
It is important to not let fear force pre-compliance with orders that undermine equity, student success, and state law. Instead, this moment requires bold clarity and commitment to student rights and student success.
In Minnesota, our schools must work to:
- End racial predictability in academic outcomes.
- Center the voices, needs, and aspirations of students of color, Indigenous students, and immigrant and undocumented students and communities.
- Invest in the people and practices that enhance academic, social, and economic outcomes for students of color, immigrant students, and Indigenous student
What Language Is Being Weaponized and Erased?
The criminalization of language is not new. But today’s coordinated legislative and executive campaigns to censor terms like equity, racism, gender identity, and inclusion represent an unprecedented attempt to rewrite the very terms of justice.
Under recent executive orders, the federal government is labeling key civil rights terms as “ideological,” “illegal,” or “un-American.” School districts, public agencies, and educators are being told that naming systemic harm — or even acknowledging identity — could now be a legal risk.
This is not a debate about semantics. It’s a fight over power.
Proxy Language Should Never Erase Justice. It Must Center It.
While equity-centered language is being erased and weaponized to disrupt civil rights and access and equity in E12 and higher education, it does not mean districts, schools, education and student support centers, and communities should retreat from boldly and clearly communicating their mission of supporting, honoring, and uplifting the needs and aspirations of every learner equitably and effectively.
Values-based and student-affirming language is more critical than ever in shifting harmful narratives, protecting students from racialized harm, and upholding the civil and human rights of every learner in every classroom.
“Proxy language” is not about capitulating to harmful federal mandates.
Proxy language offers schools, districts, and communities a powerful tool to align around shared values, build community-driven solutions, and create a common language toward a shared goal of equity and justice that can evolve and endure.
Even when justice language is being criminalized, “proxy language” is a necessary and powerful opportunity to re-center and re-affirm racial, immigration, and LGBTQ+ justice for every learner, ensuring that they are seen, valued, and supported in all narratives and strategies.
Proxy language is only powerful and valuable when it:
- Preserves the intent and impact of race equity work
- Names clear equitable goals and outcomes specifically, even if framing shifts
- Builds on a shared language now that can grow louder, more powerful, and more committed as conditions shift
- Centers the safety, belonging, inclusion, and success of every learner.
Narrative Response Matrix: How Is Your School, District, or Community Responding to Federal Threats?
| Quadrant | Description | Risk & Opportunity |
| Standing Strong in Mission | Defends equity efforts publicly; challenges vague mandates | High-integrity, courageous stance. Legally protected in MN. |
| Keeps equity programs in place, avoids DEI label | Risk-aware; may miss opportunities to affirm values. | |
| XX | Quietly removes or renames programs | Risk-averse, vulnerable to internal confusion or backlash. |
| Cuts programs outright, cites compliance | Most harmful to students. Highest risk of violating state equity laws. |
Sample Scenarios & Language for District Leaders
CENTERING VALUES, LAWS, AND LONG-TERM STUDENT AND COMMUNITY OUTCOMES
| Situation | Strategy |
| Grant form asks for certification of “no DEI” | Use values-aligned language: “We comply with all civil rights laws and remain committed to inclusive excellence and equitable outcomes for all students.” |
| School board considers cutting EL supports | Reference MN Human Rights Act and MDE guidance. Emphasize risk of violating state equity mandates. |
| Parent questions a culturally responsive lesson | Use proxy language to highlight educational benefit, inclusive pedagogy, and state standards, and student outcomes. |