Department of Education Blew $1 Billion on DEI – Here’s Why It Matters

Parents Defending Education (PDE) discovered that the Department of Education blew through more than $1 billion dollars on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) grants, trainings and programs over the past four years.

Parents – and grandparents and other concerned citizens – should be aware that DEI has permeated teacher training colleges, teachers’ unions, school boards, and local schools, indoctrinated children into a false, divisive ideology.

PDE reported that the actual amount of money spent may be even greater than what their investigation uncovered. The parents’ rights group said that it broke up DEI education grants groups as follows:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Hiring: $489,883,797.81

This category includes DEI or race-based recruiting, training, and hiring practices.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programming: $343,337,286

This category includes general DEI programming and trainings, discipline including restorative practices, and youth activism.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-Based Mental Health/Social Emotional Learning (SEL): $169,301,221

This category includes DEI-based mental health training programs and SEL trainings and programming.

Parents may not be aware that SEL, which in the past was used to teach children self-awareness, self-management and empathy, is now used to indoctrinate children into Critical Race Theory, with concepts like intersectionality, which says people are privileged or oppressed based on certain characteristics, as PDE explains.

Intersectionality includes instructing children in topics they are not equipped to understand, like sexual orientation and gender identity. It inculcates them into the idea that everyone is motivated by hidden, implicit bias and bigotry.

These programs and trainings are part of a deeply flawed theory and enterprise that, instead of bringing people together, creates suspicion and discord. DEI actually teaches students to discriminate against “privileged” groups to make up for past discrimination.

In addition, DEI burdens “oppressed” groups with a weight of helplessness and feelings of disempowerment, leading them to believe most individuals and institutions are against them.

Who wants young children taught that they are either inherently privileged or essentially oppressed – and always will be, due to “systemic” bias in individuals and culture?

While the goal is inclusion and equality, DEI divides people based on an ever-growing set of characteristics, including skin color, religion, sexual identity and behaviors, language, body size, disability status – and more. And it privileges different “oppressed” groups over others, based on those attributes.

We used to call this discrimination.

For an example of how this functions, check out this “Wheel of Privilege and Power,” brought to us by the Canadian government:

This visual tool by the Government of Canada can help individuals identify how power and privilege relate to their personal circumstance. It covers thirteen categories of social identity, including Citizenship, Wealth, Gender, and Language. Each category has at least three levels of privilege. This resource will be of particular value to those who want to understand how their intersecting social identities relate to systems of power and discrimination (particularly in the Global North), and to professionals working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.

The closer to the center you are, the more privilege you have.

And this is the ideology our federal government is funding and pushing on our children.

Thankfully, schools are beginning to realize how inherently divisive these programs are. In recent months, the University of Michigan, Idaho State University, the University of Idaho, and Boise State University began shutting down their DEI programs.

They’ve dropped these programs because they increase tensions, rather than fostering inclusivity.

The Department of Education should follow suit and drop its wasteful, counterproductive spending.

Image from Shutterstock.

Related articles and resources:

BLM at School – How a Day Encouraging Parental Educational Involvement Was Overshadowed by a Week of Radical Ideology

Boise State Closes DEI Centers, Follows National Trend

Breaking Down Racial Barriers With God’s Love (Part 1 of 2)

Diversity Statements Booted From University of Michigan Hiring Process

‘Equipping Parents For Back-To-School’ – Updated Resource Empowers Parents

How To Talk With Your Kids About Racial Differences

Hurray for Walmart Abandoning DEI Programs and Policies: ‘Biggest Win Yet’

Is ‘Critical Race Theory’ Being Taught in Public Schools? CRT Deniers Claim it Isn’t