The Trump administration has dropped an effort to defund schools that teach “diversity, equity and inclusion.” The legal move undermines a top Arizona official’s threats to schools.
One year ago, President Donald Trump issued an executive order pledging to defund any schools teaching DEI, but a federal judge blocked that order in August, finding it was a violation of the First Amendment.
The Trump administration was seeking an appeal until this week.
Arizona GOP Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne made defunding schools a central threat in his annual address to lawmakers on Tuesday.
Horne said hundreds of millions of dollars are at risk unless Arizona reviews its teaching standards to eradicate any “DEI” language. He also told lawmakers he was prepared to cut funding because he agrees with the Trump administration that DEI is wrong.
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Community members packed another school board meeting on Tuesday to participate in public comment. -
The former Centennial High School student says PUSD leaders didn’t protect him from sexual abuse by former teachers. -
Arizona Republicans have passed similar bills in recent years that have all been vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. -
The Tucson School for the Blind will serve students K-12, with plans to add a preschool program in the next couple of years. -
The package, being presented to lawmakers this week, preserves the approximately $450 million a year in tax cuts proposed by GOP lawmakers that mirror what Congress approved last year in its "Big Beautiful Bill."
