Arizona education board approves removal of DEI language to comply with Trump order
Arizona State Board of Education voted to remove DEI language from two policy documents that provide guidance to teachers.
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PHOENIX — Facing the potential loss of nearly $900 million in federal funding, the Arizona State Board of Education voted Monday to remove DEI language from two policy documents that provide guidance to teachers.
This comes after President Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 requiring states to remove diversity, equity and inclusion language from all programs.
The state could lose up to $866 million in federal funding if it doesn’t comply, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
The Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) makes policy, while the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is responsible for implementing it.
The ASBE vote was originally set for Oct. 27, but it was pushed to this week due to a lack of information about the revision process.
What policies are affected by DEI language vote?
The ASBE ended up unanimously approving measures to review and revise two policy documents — the Arizona Professional Teaching Standards and the Structured English Immersion Endorsement Course Frameworks — to make sure they align with Trump’s DEI language order.
Sid Bailey, the ADE’s associate superintendent of educator leadership, explained that the teaching standards are used to give teachers a guide for their classroom.
“In Arizona, the professional teaching standards are guidance to the field as an optional component for measuring educators’ effectiveness. … But when it comes to education preparation programs, they must align to the board-approved professional teaching standards,” he said.
Bailey said the revision panel would be made up of teachers, administrators, representatives and parents. The group will be created in January, start work in February, and give monthly updates to the ASBE until a draft is completed. The goal is to finish the revision before September 2026.
“That working group will build definitions for DEI related to language to determine what language should be revised or removed in order to satisfy federal direction. That’s all we’re trying to do here,” he said.
The English language learning guidelines will be reviewed and revised the same way.
Arizona Education Association opposes DEI language changes in state policy
Before the vote, the leader of the state’s largest teacher union sent a a letter asking the ASBE to vote against the revisions.
Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia issuing a warning about the consequences of the review in the letter.
“If the State Board of Education moves to adopt ADE’s proposal, the body risks a cascading ‘race to the bottom’ in which educational standards are regularly opened and revised to align with shifts in political priorities instead of the direct needs of Arizona students,” Garcia wrote.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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Comments
23 Comments
1. It’s disingenuous to presume minority surgeons are less qualified than white ones. Actually disingenuous isn’t the right word, but I’m trying to be polite.
2. If you think a minority woman with equivalent qualifications as a white man has an equivalent opportunity in every occupation in every locationn, you’re delusional.
3. For centuries white males got the job not because they were white males, but because nobody who WASN’T a white male EVER got that job. If you think that all went away 100 years ago you’re in denial.
4. Changing the school curriculum to eliminate all mention of DEI is the real issue here. You think the new administration in DC should dictate to local school districts all over the nation what content to teach based on partisan policies? And it could change every four years? I certainly don’t.
110 percent disagree. This isn’t 1930. And reversing the tables isn’t beneficial. Tell me, if a white male is much more qualified to operate during surgery or fly a plane, why should a person of minority get preferential treatment based on the color of their skin, gender etc, especially if they’re less qualified . Think about it. If I’m white getting a job because I’m white, that’s completely racist. The same logic applies here. Why not just hire the best candidate, period?
-edit- adding this. Please answer. Why in sports such as the nba, nfl dominated by minorities. Should we apply DEI here? Imagine what that would look like. Less athletic and less entertaining or let the talent speak for themselves??? Charlie Kirk actually argued this point which yes I’m regurgitating.
100%. Women and minorities have been excluded from the adults table for centuries. About time for us straight white males to see what that’s like.