NYC schools could lose federal funding over DEI initiatives
What's left of the Trump administration's Department of Education has threatened to pull federal funding from New York City schools over diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
State education commissioners were told in a letter that they have 10 days to do away with initiatives that the administration finds discriminatory or lose federal Title I funding, which the majority of city public schools receive for low-income student bodies.
About $700 million in federal funding is dedicated to Title I schools in New York City each year. The exact number of Title I schools in the city is not known, but the math is easy to do.
"If you have 60 percent [of] students receiving free or reduced price lunch, you qualify as a Title I school. And the citywide average is above 70 [percent]. Really hard to overstate how massive a cut that would be," said Michael Elsen-Rooney, with Chalkbeat NY.
Federal money makes up, in most cases, less than 10% of education budgets across the country, which are mostly funded at the local and state level. This will mean even more pressure is on Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget for city schools, where there were already concerns about state cuts that may be coming.
CBS News New York reached out to the education departments in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and spokespeople from all three are all saying they are reviewing the letter and will respond in due course.
NYC schools chancellor introduces new programs
The news came Thursday as City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos was making her first signature announcement in her six months on the job.
"We're here today to celebrate community, our families, our students who are going to be leading charges on wellness, on safety and on all the resources that exist across New York City. Diversity is a superpower here in New York City. We are always going to honor that. We are always going to make sure that we are serving every single child and family in New York City," Aviles-Ramos said.
At Esperanza Prep in East Harlem, Aviles-Ramos introduced two new programs: An anti-bullying and anti-vaping campaign called New York City Public Schools Cares, and Family Connectors, a volunteer program for parents who can help other parents navigate the system.
"We need to rely on our parent leaders to help connect our families to the resources," Aviles-Ramos said.
The chancellor says she spent her first six months on the job listening in what her office has called the "Five Borough Listening Tour," and the concerns she heard from educators and families led to the launch of the two programs.
