Education Secretary Calls Diversity Program Cuts Latest 'Boogeyman' To Divide Schools

WASHINGTON ― U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Tuesday that he believes attacks on diversity programs in public schools are part of a larger campaign to “decrease the confidence in our public schools.”

In a roundtable discussion with Black journalists at the Department of Education building in Washington, Cardona referred to the rollback as a “boogeyman” that opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have created to sow division in America’s schools — not unlike the debates over COVID masks and the teaching of critical race theory.

“There are very deliberate attempts to seek division in our schools so that a private option sounds better for parents. So we created a boogeyman,” Cardona said. “Four years ago were the masks. [Critical race theory] was a year after that. [Now,] DEI, banning books. Every year, there’s something to stoke division in an attempt to disrupt our public schools and decrease the confidence in our public schools.”

Since the beginning of 2023, more than 70 pieces of legislation targeting diversity programs at colleges and universities have been introduced, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education . Public schools in Texas, Florida and other Republican-controlled states have been forced to limit student access to certain books by Black authors. Cardona said he sees the rollback of diversity efforts across public education as a “deliberate” attempt to prevent schools from being inclusive places for all students.

“The attack on DEI, to me, is a deliberate attack on efforts to try to make sure schools are inclusive, welcoming places for all students — in particular, students from different backgrounds,” the education secretary said. “No different than what I think