Inside America’s Collapsing Public Schools: How A Relentless DEI Campaign Is Making Kids Dumber
Executive summary
The claim that “a relentless DEI campaign is making kids dumber” ties two separate assertions: that DEI programs are widespread in K–12 and higher education, and that U.S. student achievement has plunged. Reporting shows an aggressive federal rollback of DEI—removal of DEI resources and new complaint portals, threats to funding, and moves to exclude institutions from partnerships for DEI practices [1] [2] [3]. Contemporary accounts link falling test scores to many causes, but available sources do not provide direct, peer-reviewed evidence that DEI programs are the primary or causal driver of national declines in NAEP scores [4].
1. What the federal campaign actually is
The U.S. Department of Education and other agencies have enacted a visible crackdown: the Education Department says it removed more than 200 DEI-related web pages and put DEI staff on leave as part of an effort to “eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives” [1]. The department also launched an “End DEI” portal inviting complaints about alleged discrimination in public schools [2], and issued letters asking districts to certify compliance with its interpretation of Title VI and related rules—moves that school leaders and state officials say have sown confusion and pressure [5] [6] [7].
2. How higher-education partnerships are being rewired
The State Department has proposed excluding 38 universities from a Diplomacy Lab research partnership because of their DEI hiring practices, replacing some with institutions seen as more ideologically aligned; reporting includes an internal memo and spreadsheet that color-coded 75 universities for potential suspension [3] [8]. Reuters and CNN describe a broader repurposing of human-rights reporting to flag DEI policies abroad and to align foreign-policy tools with domestic political priorities [9] [10].
3. The academic argument made by critics
Opinion outlets and advocacy voices assert DEI diverts time and money from basics. A piece in Legal Insurrection states DEI “takes time away from important subjects” and ties falling NAEP scores to systemic failures in education spending [4]. This view is echoed in political actions that frame DEI as “divisive ideology” crowding out instruction [1]. Those sources present DEI as an ideological cause of poor academic outcomes rather than as a complementary set of reforms.
4. Pushback from educators, legal actors and state systems
Local education officials and state departments have pushed back. California leaders warned they will consider legal action if federal moves try to cut funding for districts with DEI policies, and some districts temporarily suspended or revised DEI wording under pressure before restoring policies after legal review or public pushback [6] [7]. Education reporting urges calm and legal consultation, noting school doors remain open and the operational reality on the ground is complex [11].
5. What the data connection actually shows — and what it doesn’t
The claim that DEI is making students “dumber” presumes a direct causal link between DEI programming and declines in standardized measures like NAEP. Available sources show commentators asserting that NAEP scores are at multi-decade lows and blaming curricular distractions [4]. But the datasets, causal analyses, or peer-reviewed studies tying DEI practices specifically to those declines are not cited in the materials you provided; therefore, available sources do not mention definitive empirical proof that DEI programs are the main cause of falling NAEP scores [4].
6. Competing explanations and hidden agendas
Reporting indicates several overlapping drivers: political reorientation of federal agencies, legal fights over civil-rights enforcement, and administrative pressure that may alter district behavior [1] [5] [7]. Pro-DEI actors argue these programs address long-standing inequities; opponents argue they are ideological and harmful to fundamentals. The sources show clear political incentives to dismantle DEI—from executive orders to personnel moves and partnership exclusions—suggesting some actions are as much about ideology and institutional control as about classroom outcomes [1] [3].
7. Bottom line for readers
There is incontrovertible evidence that the federal government has launched a coordinated campaign to identify and remove DEI from public education and higher-education partnerships [1] [3] [2]. There is reporting of low NAEP scores and commentary linking those declines to curricular choices [4]. What the provided sources do not include is robust, cited research proving that DEI initiatives are the primary or causal reason U.S. students scored lower on national assessments—so the assertion “DEI is making kids dumber” remains a contested interpretation, grounded in political critique rather than settled empirical consensus [4].