K-12 schools must sign certification against DEI to receive federal money, administration says

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K-12 schools must sign certification against DEI to receive federal money, administration says

2025-04-04 06:11 Last Updated At：06:22

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a condition for receiving federal money, the Trump administration is ordering K-12 schools to certify that they are following federal civil rights laws and ending any discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

A notice sent Thursday by the Education Department gives states and schools 10 days to sign and return the certification. It's the latest escalation against DEI policies, apparently giving the Republican administration a new lever for terminating federal money.

“Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. He said many schools have flouted their legal obligations, “including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another.”

The certification asks state and school leaders to sign a “reminder of legal obligations” acknowledging their federal money is conditioned on compliance with federal civil rights laws. It also demands compliance with several pages of legal analysis written by the administration.

“The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law,” the administration wrote in the certification, adding that it is illegal for programs to advantage one race over another.

Schools and states that use illegal DEI practices can face a loss of federal money, including grants and contracts, and can be held liable under the False Claims Act, according to the certification. It specifically threatens Title I funding, which sends billions of dollars a year to America's schools and targets low-income areas.

The department ordered state education offices to sign the certification and collect certifications from school systems.

It follows a Feb. 14 memo declaring that any school policy that treats students or staff differently because of their race is illegal. It aimed to fight what the memo described as widespread discrimination in education, often against white and Asian American students.

The certification letter drew blowback from critics who said it conflicts with Trump's promise to return education to schools and states.

“Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can’t say you’re giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

The new memo appears to lay the groundwork for financial sanctions of the kind the Trump administration has leveraged against colleges. Columbia University recently agreed to several demands after the federal government cut $400 million amid an investigation into campus antisemitism.

The government has used similar tactics at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Schools across the U.S. have been scrambling to determine what practices could run afoul of the anti-DEI orders, but the new letter does little to add clarity.

The initial February memo declared that federal law prohibits schools and colleges from “using race” in decisions related to admissions, hiring financial aid, housing, student life and more. As justification, it invoked a 2023 Supreme Court decision barring affirmative action in college admissions — a case focused on admissions practices at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

The department later clarified that some practices are allowed, including Black History Month celebrations and programs focused on certain cultures, but it said many schools have “advanced discriminatory policies and practices under the banner of ‘DEI’ initiatives.”

The American Federation of Teachers, a national teachers' union, is suing to block the Feb. 14 memo, saying it violates the First and Fifth amendments.

The union's president called the certification requirement illegal, saying federal law prohibits the White House from telling schools and colleges what to teach, and that federal money cannot be withheld without due process.

“He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org

Suicides and attempts fall in health systems implementing the 'Zero Suicide Model,' study finds

2025-04-07 23:03 Last Updated At：23:10

Health care systems can reduce suicides through patient screening, safety planning and mental health counseling, a new study suggests, an important finding as the U.S. confronts it 11th leading cause of death.

The “Zero Suicide Model” was developed in 2001 at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, where the focus on people considering suicide included collaborating with patients to reduce their access to lethal means such as firearms and then following up with treatment.

The approach made a difference, and for all of 2009, the health system saw no suicides among patients. The researchers then studied what happened when a different health system, Kaiser Permanente, adopted the program in four locations from 2012 through 2019.

Suicides and suicide attempts fell in three of the locations, while the fourth maintained a low rate of suicides and attempts. Suicide attempts were tracked in electronic health records and insurance claims data. Suicides were measured using government death records.

Reductions varied and reached up to 25%, said lead author Brian Ahmedani, of Henry Ford Health.

“Over the course of the year, that’s up to 165 to 170 suicide attempts that were prevented at these participating health care systems,” Ahmedani said.

The study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open, shows the model works, said Katherine Keyes, a Columbia University public health professor who studies suicide.

Prior research has shown that nearly everyone who dies by suicide is seen by a health care provider in the year before their death, Keyes said. Many doctor's offices have started asking patients whether they've thought about harming themselves.

“We are coming into contact with people who are at high risk for suicide. If we don’t ask them, we don’t know,” said Keyes who was not involved in the new study.

Grants from the National Institute of Mental Health funded the research.

“Complex health problems like suicide cannot be challenged effectively without federal leadership,” said Mike Hogan, who led mental health systems in Connecticut, Ohio and New York, and chaired President George W. Bush’s commission on mental health in 2002 and 2003.

“This is a very important research report, confirming that reducing suicide among people in health systems is possible,” Hogan said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.