Oregon’s defiant governor Tina Kotek is risking millions in federal education funding to preserve her precious DEI programs despite President Trump’s executive order demanding their elimination.
At a Glance
- Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has openly declared her state will defy President Trump’s executive order ending DEI policies in schools
- The U.S. Department of Education set a deadline for states to end DEI policies or risk losing vital federal funding
- Oregon Education Department Director Charlene Williams refused to sign the federal certification document
- State officials are claiming the order is vague, unconstitutional, and an inappropriate constraint on educational resources
- Multiple school districts have joined in filing lawsuits against the DEI ban
Constitutional Defiance in the Pacific Northwest
Just when you thought the radical left couldn’t get more brazen in their attempts to indoctrinate our children, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek steps up to show us how it’s done. In a stunning display of defiance against presidential authority, Kotek has instructed her state’s education department to ignore President Trump’s executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in public schools. Apparently, the concept of federal supremacy means nothing when it interferes with the left’s obsession with identity politics and racial division in classrooms. This isn’t just political posturing—it’s a direct challenge to constitutional governance that could cost Oregon taxpayers millions in federal education dollars.
The Trump administration’s Department of Education laid down a clear deadline: end divisive DEI practices or lose federal funding. It’s a straightforward choice that most states have managed to navigate without drama. But not Oregon. No, Governor Kotek has decided that pushing radical ideologies on schoolchildren is more important than ensuring schools have the resources they need to, you know, actually teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. The sheer arrogance is breathtaking. In what universe does a governor get to pick and choose which federal directives to follow while still expecting federal dollars to flow freely?
Bureaucrats Playing Politics with Children’s Education
Oregon Education Department Director Charlene Williams, clearly reading from the same progressive playbook as her boss, has refused to sign the federal certification document acknowledging compliance with the executive order. Instead, she sent a defiant letter claiming Oregon “remains fiercely committed to its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Translation: we value our woke ideology more than we value following federal law or securing education funding for the children we claim to serve. The irony is palpable when Williams criticizes using “children’s resources as a political tool” while doing exactly that herself.
“Oregon has implemented and continues to implement education programs in accordance with state and federal law,” Williams said in the letter. “Oregon remains fiercely committed to its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we celebrate our differences and common humanity. Our moral and ethical obligation is to stand up for public education.”
Let’s be perfectly clear about what’s happening here. President Trump’s executive order simply requires compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and aligns with the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in college admissions. It’s not some radical conservative overreach—it’s a return to the colorblind application of law that treats all students equally regardless of race. But for today’s leftists, treating everyone equally is apparently unacceptable. They’d rather risk millions in education funding than abandon their divisive racial classification systems and ideological programming targeted at impressionable children.
The Cost of Ideological Obstinance
Governor Kotek has made her priorities crystal clear, and they have nothing to do with what’s best for Oregon students. She’s willing to gamble with federal education funding—money that supports essential programs for disadvantaged students, special education, and school lunches—all to preserve the left’s stranglehold on curriculum and school culture. The Education Department can’t even provide clear figures on how much DEI programming costs in Oregon schools, which speaks volumes about their fiscal accountability. They want to keep these programs so badly they’re willing to risk millions in funding, but they can’t tell taxpayers how much they’re spending on them.
“Since the start of the new federal administration, I promised Oregonians that I would not back down from a fight when it comes to safeguarding Oregon values,” said the governor. “Making sure every child has the opportunity to meet their future promise with a strong public education is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of government and one of my top priorities as governor.”
This isn’t Kotek’s first rodeo when it comes to defying the federal government. Her administration also pushed back against the suspension of COVID-era relief funds. There seems to be a pattern here: take federal money, ignore federal rules, then cry foul when consequences arrive. Oregon parents should be asking themselves a simple question: Is this ideological stubbornness worth the price their children might pay in lost educational resources? When schools start cutting programs or increasing local taxes to make up for lost federal dollars, remember who chose divisive identity politics over your child’s education.
