The Maine Department of Education on Thursday said it will not agree to guidance from the Trump administration seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in K-12 schools.
In an open letter to schools, the department said Maine already “does, and will continue to, comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, its implementing regulations, and Supreme Court cases interpreting the same,” and that the state regularly certifies its compliance as part of the application process for federal funding.
The letter was in response to one from the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month ordering states to gather signatures from local school systems certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including the rejection of what the federal government called “illegal DEI practices.”
States were given a deadline of Thursday to submit certification of schools’ compliance.
The Maine DOE on Thursday said it had notified its federal counterpart that it would not be signing that certification or seeking signatures from schools.
“It was determined that signing the new certification would bind the Maine DOE to language of executive orders or other federal guidance without the force of law, and that lacked clarity regarding what was, or was not, prohibited,” the Maine education department said.
Earlier in the day, Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s push to end DEI in K-12 public schools.
That ruling came from a lawsuit brought by the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, accusing the Trump administration of violating teachers’ due process and First Amendment rights.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
