Here they go again.
First, there were state-level restrictions on teaching Black history in public K-12 classrooms, along with corresponding book bans. Then, the Trump 2.0 administration stripped $600 million in Department of Education funding from teacher training programs that dealt honestly with race.
Now, the Ed Department has taken the White House crackdown to the next level by unveiling what some are calling a “snitch line”: an online portal for reporting violations of educators teaching about race or sexual orientation at taxpayer-funded institutions.
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The site, EndDEI.ed.gov, which went live last week, is a “secure portal (that) allows parents to provide an email address, the name of the student’s school or school district, and details of the concerning practices,” according to a statement on the DOE’s website. “The Department of Education will use submissions as a guide to identify potential areas for investigation.”
In a statement posted on the DOE website, Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the conservative education nonprofit Moms for Liberty, said the portal “is putting power back in the hands of parents.”
“For years, parents begged schools to teach their kids “practical skills like reading, writing, and math, instead of pushing critical theory, rogue sex education, and divisive ideologies,” she said. “But their concerns have been brushed off, mocked, or shut down entirely.”
There was immediate pushback, however, from parents’ groups and education equity advocates on the left.
“US Dept. of Ed has opened a snitch line for diversity,” Beth Lewis, the director of Save Our Schools Arizona, wrote on X. With a winking emoji, Lewis wrote that it “would be a crying shame” if people flooded the site with reports of discrimination in Arizona’s taxpayer-funded private schools.
While it’s the first time the federal government has done it, using a ground-up strategy to monitor DEI in schools isn’t new. In 2021 and 2022, states such as Virginia and New Hampshire announced similar tip lines to report the use of critical race theory in public classrooms. There were reports of misuse of the form in Virginia.
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The initiative is part of President Donald Trump’s government-wide assault on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Through executive-action memos, official policies and firings, the White House wants to eliminate DEI from every aspect of government in favor of a merit-based, color-blind approach to hiring and promotion.
In education, that means a “back to basics” approach — sticking to teaching reading, writing and teaching American history in a positive light. The department also dissolved internal school DEI councils, canceling related teacher training contracts, and withdrawing the Department’s Equity Action Plan.
Critics, however, say that the MAGA approach in the classroom ignores ongoing racial discrimination, measurable Black-white disparities in the classroom and injustices perpetrated against Black people throughout the nation’s history.
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In the open-access EndDEI portal, parents, students, and teachers are asked to provide an email address, the name of the student’s school or school district, and details of their complaint.
Reacting to the news about the EndDEI portal, National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues told ABC News she thinks the White House is “looking for any weapon to attack and cause chaos.”
The Committee on Education and Workforce Democrats concurred in a social media post.
“First, [the Education Department] paused thousands of racial discrimination and sexual assault cases, delaying students’ justice,” the committee wrote on X. “Now ED is asking parents to “snitch” on teachers they perceive to be “divisive.” This does not protect students’ civil rights. This only sows division and fear.”