OHIO — Friday is the deadline given by the United States Department of Education for public schools and universities across the country to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work or risk losing federal funding. Schools in Ohio are falling into line.
The latest university to make significant changes is The Ohio State University. In a university senate meeting on Thursday, Ohio State University President Ted Carter announced the changes.
Ohio State is closing its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and its Center for Belonging and Social Change while eliminating 16 staff positions in those offices. The university is also halting all DEI programming and renaming the Office of Institutional Equity to the Office of Civil Rights.
Akron Public Schools is also considering sweeping changes to its DEI initiatives in order to comply with federal directives.
“This is seen as a state of emergency,” Akron Public Schools Board President Carla Jackson said. “We do want to make sure we are in line with deadlines to do what’s right not just by the law but what’s right by the people we’re elected to serve.”
At Wednesday’s special equity meeting, Akron Public schools made major initial edits to its existing equity policy, discussed repealing the racial equity policy, and looked at potential role changes for staff within the DEI office.
While no changes for Akron Public Schools are official just yet, the school district hopes it’s far enough along in the process to be in compliance by the federal deadline.
The potential loss of federal resources for schools would not just have an adverse effect on learning but also on Ohio taxpayers.
“All of that puts more pressure on local property taxpayers to make up the differences through levies,” Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said.
DiMauro explained that losing federal money would impact both Title 1 which provides funds for schools with a high percentage of low-income students and funding for special education programs across the state.
“If we lose those federal resources, that means that kids all across Ohio don’t get what they need in order to have those individualized supports to be successful,” DiMauro said. “Times like this, we’re reminded that decisions that politicians make have a direct impact on what happens in our classroom.”