A Department of Education regulation change tying billions of dollars in grant funding to diversity, equity, and inclusion is drawing strong opposition from a former department official and leading Republican lawmaker.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona recently included the DEI directive in a series of updates to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations, a collection of rules that the department uses for awarding federal grants. The changes went into effect Sept. 30.
Now, the department will tie funding decisions to the applicant’s dedication to hiring “personnel who are members of groups that have historically encountered barriers” due to their “gender; race; ethnicity; color; national origin; disability; age; language; migration; … sexual orientation” and other factors.
The department has an “interest in awarding grants to a diverse and inclusive group of applicants,” it stated in the regulation update.