During a board meeting on Thursday, Colorado's Department of Education Commissioner Susana Córdova announced that her department would not sign a letter from the federal government certifying that the state's K-12 school districts are complying with the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.
"I am not signing that," Córdova said. "I'm not asking our districts to sign that."
In a letter dated April 3, the U.S. Department of Education asked state departments of education to sign a "reminder of legal obligations undertaken in exchange for receiving federal financial assistance." The Trump administration has previously threatened to pull federal funding from schools and universities if they do not remove DEI policies and programs to comply with the department’s interpretation of federal law.
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States were given 10 days to sign and return the notice, according to The Denver Post.
- Read the full letter below
During Thursday's board meeting, Córdova said Colorado school districts have already signed assurances saying they comply with Title VI.
"They do so on an annual basis in order to be eligible to receive federal funds," she said. "We are not going to be collecting and asking districts to sign a new assurance that came to us in that April 3 request."
Córdova said the April 3 notice is different than the other assurances school districts have signed.
"It has not gone through a process that's called the Paperwork Reduction Act, which is a very detailed and structured process that must occur before federal agencies can compel mandatory collections of information like this kind of a certification," Córdova said.
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The commissioner also discussed the potential withholding of federal funds should the new request not be signed.
"It would be unlawful to restrict federal funding because somebody declines to sign a document that we're not legally obligated to sign," Córdova said. "Furthermore, frankly, I would be uncomfortable signing a certification that binds us to federal guidance that doesn't have the force of law."
However, Colorado Department of Education Board Member Steve Durham, who represents the state's 5th Congressional District in Colorado Springs, disagreed with the commissioner's stance.
"I think [the motive] behind not signing this is political rather than rather than legal," he said.
Durham said there has been "plenty of evidence" showing the "misuse" of DEI practices.
"It's misused to discriminate in employment and other prohibited banners that are prohibited by Title VI," he said. "I think the question is that, is there any evidence of whether or not we, any of the entities involved, use DEI as a mechanism to engage in discrimination based on race?"
Speaking while ] was picking up her two children from Teller Elementary School on Friday afternoon, Tracy Hanson said her concern is about her children's education and well-being.
"My older child has an IEP, which is a federal document. It means Individualized Education Plan," Hanson said. "She is on the autism spectrum, so it's very, very important [and] is supposed to follow her all the way through high school, and she's had it in place since first grade."
"She's about to go off to middle school here in Denver, and it would be devastating for her to lose that document," the mother added.
When asked her opinion on the potential withholding of federal funding, Hanson said it's something she's thought about but with so many unknowns, she tries to keep those thoughts at bay.
"Since there's nothing definite happening yet, I'm trying not to freak out and panic, but I kind of am on some level," she said.
For the 2024-2025 school year, the state of Colorado was estimated to receive $870,229,410, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
This article was written by Veronica Acosta for the Scripps News Group in Denver.
