【Watch Hugas Online】

The Watch Hugas OnlineDepartment of Education is now inviting parents to submit complaints about diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts that may be happening at their child's school.

Last week, the federal agency launched a new "End DEI" portal that parents can use to report "discrimination based on race or sex" in publicly-funded schools for kindergarten through 12th grade.

The department has the authority to investigate discrimination based on race, sex, and disability, among other protected characteristics, and already offered a form for such reports.

The End DEI portal appears to specifically target instruction or curriculum that conservatives have long attacked. A text introduction on the online form notes that students should "have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination."

The department's news release introducing the portal also includes a lengthy quote from a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a far-right political organization that has pushed book bans and backed Trump's presidential campaign.

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice argued that children are being taught "critical theory, rogue sex education and divisive ideologies."

"Parents, now is the time that you share the receipts of the betrayal that has happened in our public schools," Justice said in her statement.

Conservatives have previously supported the use of tip lines to report what they consider objectionable discussions or curriculum in the classroom.

In 2022, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin created a tip line to receive related reports. In 2021, one New Hampshire Moms for Liberty chapter even offered a $500 bounty to the first person who caught a public school teacher breaking a new law intended to discourage educators from discussing "divisive concepts."

The End DEI portal allows parents to submit their email address, school or school district, and a brief description of the alleged discrimination, as well as attached JPG, JPEG, PNG, and PDF files. The portal says that the education department will use the submissions for potential investigations.

Major unions that represent educators — the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association — are fighting back against the Trump administration's pressure to eradicate DEI from schools.

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NEA President Becky Pringle called the End DEI portal a "stunt" and defended DEI initiatives in a statement.

"Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs create a sense of belonging where we all feel comfortable sharing our ideas and lived experiences," Pringle said.

The American Federation of Teachers recently sued the Trump administration for threatening to cut off funding for schools that do not comply with its demand to effectively cease efforts designed to achieve "diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity" by Feb. 28.

The administration argued in a Feb. 14 memo that those efforts unlawfully preference certain racial groups.

"This vague and clearly unconstitutional memo is a grave attack on students, our profession and knowledge itself," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. "It would hamper efforts to extend access to education, and dash the promise of equal opportunity for all, a central tenant of the United States since its founding."

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