Georgia joins a number of states that will comply with a directive from the U.S. Department of Education to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools or face the termination of federal funds.
Meghan Frick, director of communications at the Georgia Department of Education, told WABE in an emailed statement that public schools need federal funding.
“We will comply as our school districts rely on funding from the federal government to carry out critical work for economically disadvantaged students, special education, and more,” Frick wrote.
According to the state education department website, Georgia received more than $1 billion in federal funding in FY 2025, including for students with disabilities and students facing homelessness.
The April 3 letter from the U.S. Education Department calls on state and local education agencies to sign a certification indicating that they intend to abide by federal non-discrimination standards as interpreted in the document.
Specifically, the letter states that DEI programs are “illegal” and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, adding that educational institutions that employ them will lose federal funding and could face legal action from the U.S. Department of Justice and fines.
“Given the text of Title VI and the assurances you have already given, any violation of Title VI — including the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (“DEI”) programs to advantage one’s race over another — is impermissible,” the letter states. “The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law.”
Frick said the Georgia Department of Education has created a process to collect certification responses from local school districts.
She added that no local school system has yet expressed an intent to decline signing the letter. Atlanta Public Schools has not indicated to WABE whether it is complying with the directive.
The U.S. Education Department agreed to extend the deadline for signing the letter to April 24 after a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s attempts to ban DEI programs in schools.
The suit, filed against the Education Department by the National Education Association and others, originally targeted the Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the department’s Office for Civil Rights. It argued that DEI programs were illegally discriminatory and “frequently preference certain racial groups” or “teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens,” citing federal non-discrimination law and the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that effectively ended affirmative action, or race-conscious admissions.
Some cities and states have chosen not to sign the April 3 letter, and most states that are compliant have Republicans controlling the executive and legislative branches, according to an Education Week analysis.
Republican state lawmakers in Georgia had already tried to advance a version of this directive before the U.S. Education Department issued its certification request.
Georgia House Bill 127 sought to withhold state and state-administered federal funding from schools with programs and policies promoting DEI. The bill failed to advance this year, but Republicans are planning to bring the measure back next year.
This story is available through a news partnership with WABE, Atlanta’s National Public Radio affiliate.