Parental rights groups call for statewide education audits in all 50 states

FIRST ON FOX: Dozens of parental rights organizations have signed a letter sent to all 50 states calling for top-to-bottom audits of statewide education laws and policies, warning that DEI, poor hiring practices, and sex and gender discrimination continue to be prevalent in the nation’s elementary and secondary schools.

The letter, sent by Defending Education along with more than 20 other parental rights in education groups, urges leaders in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to repeal or revise any provisions that allow race- or gender-based preferences in hiring and scheduling, violate Title VI, VII, or IX of the Civil Rights Act or the Equal Protection Clause, and jeopardize student safety with poor oversight of hiring practices.

“It has become common for states to violate federal law in the name of diversity,” Erika Sanzi, senior director of communications at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital.

“With so many ideological bullies in state government and in our schools, cowardice and ignorance have reigned for far too long. State laws, regulations and practices that promote (and even require) discrimination based on race and gender must be exposed and eliminated. It is time for every state to clean up the mess it has made in the name of DEI.”

BOMBSHELL REPORT EXPOSES “DEEPLY CONCERNING” MIDWEST UNIVERSITY INITIATIVE PUSHING FAR-LEFT K-12 LESSON PLANS

Defending Education sent a letter to all 50 states calling for an audit of K-12 schools to ensure DEI is not being implemented. (George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Getty)

Teacher vetting is a major concern expressed in the letter, particularly the resignation of Superintendent Ian Roberts of Des Moines, Iowa, after being detained last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a brief car chase. He was placed in police custody because he had a “final removal order and no work authorization”, the authorities then indicated.

Roberts entered the United States illegally from Guyana and was not legally authorized to work in the United States after his work authorization card expired in 2020.

Homeland Security officials said Roberts faced weapons charges from Feb. 5, 2020, and was given a final order of deportation by an immigration judge in May 2024. After his arrest, authorities said they found a loaded handgun in his vehicle.

Additionally, numerous examples of teachers accused of child sexual abuse have been reported in recent years. The letter states that “a public school employee who sexually abuses children is, on average, transferred across three school districts and may abuse up to 73 children before being fired or facing legal consequences.”

“Collective bargaining agreements negotiated between teachers unions and school districts contribute significantly to the problem because they often allow personnel records to be cleaned up so that no trace of abuse is left behind once an offender leaves the system,” the letter states. “This widespread lack of transparency in educational employment is staggering and unacceptable.”

NEW K-12 SCHOOL FOCUS ON PROMOTING AMERICAN PRINCIPLES, ELIMINATING “WAKED IDEOLOGY”

Protesters in Michigan are rallying against President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI policies, denouncing federal rollbacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)

Some of the groups signed on the letter include School Boards for Academic Excellence, Parents Unite, Protective Parent Coalition, Conservatives of America, Awake Illinois, Power2Parent and the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation.

The Trump administration has made efforts to roll back DEI practices across the board, including with a decree fight against this practice within the federal government, in the army, and in schools.

As a result, Fox News Digital reported several examples of companies and schools that failed to eliminate their DEI programs, but instead rebranded them using different terminology and moved DEI employees to other departments.

“It’s exactly the same toxic nonsense in a new package, and they’re just hoping to make it bigger, because a lot of these people, I would say most, who work at DEI are useless,” said Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research. told Fox News Digital earlier this year.

“At first they just pushed back, tried to defend DEI itself, but when it became so obvious that what DEI really was was anti-White, anti-Asian, sometimes anti-Jewish discrimination in hiring and promotion, they abandoned that. Now what they’re trying to do is just change the terminology that has become so toxic to their brand. So we’re seeing a lot of companies move from having DEI departments, for example, to “belonging departments” or “inclusivity departments”.

CRITICS SAY K-12 ETHNIC STUDIES PUSHES TO TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT CISHETERONORMATIVITY, BLACK PANTHER PARTY

Former Des Moines Public Schools Principal Ian Roberts was arrested last month on immigration and weapons charges. (Polk County Sheriff/Associated Press)

Additionally, Defending Education warns that many current state laws do not comply with federal guidelines.

Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and counsel for Defending Education, told Fox News Digital, “Our assessment of state education laws from coast to coast reveals a troubling reality: Many state laws are at odds with federal anti-discrimination provisions and will invite federal review.” State laws like those in Iowa, Illinois and Maine require preference based on race and gender in everything from programs to sports, scholarships to employment.

“The Civil Rights Act’s mandates for equality in education programs are not being met in too many of America’s classrooms, and the duty to ensure these promises falls on state leaders responsible for passing and enforcing state laws. It’s time for states to clean house – because at its core, education is, and always has been, a state proposition.”

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Over the past several years, a few dozen DEI consulting groups have racked up more than a hundred million dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts with K-12 schools across the country, according to a Defending Education report earlier this year, first reported by Fox News Digital.

In total, the groups have raised more than $123 million from public schools in 40 states. The report found DEI contracts at public schools in red and blue states, from Florida and Alabama to California and Washington.

“Public education is a state responsibility,” Defending Education wrote in a press releaseas well as links to the letters sent to each state.

“Yet every state that accepts federal funds must comply with federal civil rights law. Too many states fail to comply, whether through race-based hiring and programming, bathroom/locker room and athletic policies that violate gender equality, or personnel records purges that allow predators to move between schools undetected. Our organizations are calling for a “legal interview” to ensure schools operate legally, transparently, and in the best interests of students and families. “

Peter Pinedo of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.