INTERNACIONAL
Hundreds of millions in tax money goes to contracts for DEI groups, watchdog finds: ‘Total racket’
EXCLUSIVE: Over the last several years, a few dozen diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultant groups have racked up over a hundred million dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts from K-12 schools across the country, a new report by Defending Education found.
The report, shared with Fox News Digital, details how 41 DEI consultant groups garnered millions in taxpayer-funded contracts from 303 school districts and public education entities from 2021 until now.
In total, the groups collected over $123 million from public schools in 40 states. The report found public school DEI contracts in both red and blue states, from Florida and Alabama to California and Washington.
Erika Sanzi, a spokesperson for Defending Education, described the schools-consultants partnership as a «total racket that makes schools worse» and often takes no consideration of age-appropriateness in curricula.
THE ‘GRADING FOR EQUITY’ PROPOSAL IS ABOUT LOWERING STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS, EXPERT SAYS
Over the last several years, a few dozen consultant groups have racked up over a hundred million dollars in tax-dollar contracts from K-12 schools across the country, a new report found. (Getty)
According to the report, the biggest winner in the scheme was Amplify, a firm that provides professional development and curricula to school districts, which scored a total of over $70,500,000.
The report states that in a now-scrubbed statement on its website, Amplify said its mission is to «make education, and thereby the world, more equitable and accessible» and to «help teachers support their students in constructing, questioning, expanding, and strengthening knowledge of where they come from and who they are becoming.»
In response, a representative for Amplify told Fox News Digital that the group «publishes textbooks and other instructional materials that help students learn reading, math and science» and that «there is no place anywhere in Amplify’s products, or in the training programs about how to use them, for ideologies or political agendas.»
The representative said «our programs help students learn how to think, not what to think.»
The report highlights another consultant group, Adjusted Equity Solutions, which it says is associated with the Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute, that claims to help schools challenge «whiteness and hegemonic epistemologies in school,» use «equity audits to measure student inclusiveness, policy, and practice» and serve as «advocate and social activist for community-based causes in both the school and neighborhood community.»
MAHA REPORT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CHILDHOOD CHRONIC DISEASE
Students arrive at Benson High School for the first day of hybrid instruction for middle and high schools on April 19, 2021, in Portland, Oregon. (Carlos Delgado/AP Images for Portland Public Schools)
This group took in over a million dollars from public schools during the study period.
«Tinkering in the minds of other people’s children is big business and countless K-12 schools across the country are active participants,» Sanzi said. «They pay big bucks to enter into contracts with ideologues and activists who, in turn, gain access, directly or indirectly, to a captive audience of young minds.»
Speaking with Fox News Digital via Zoom, Sanzi said that «rather than this being a focus on sort of academic interventions, it’s a lot of jargon that so far has not proven itself to be measurable. And there’s really not much evidence, if any, that any of this is helping students or helping schools or helping staff.»
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Sanzi said that though these DEI groups couch their activities in agreeable terms like «belonging» and «empathy,» they often end up being a «wolf in sheep’s clothing.»
«At first, you’re thinking lesson on empathy, like that’s good,» she said. «Who wouldn’t want their child to be empathetic? We want that. Until you realize that the lesson on empathy is going to be about something like a little girl in her bathroom at school, a staff member who’s trans, so biologically male, but identifies as female, comes into the restroom with her. She naturally feels uncomfortable because that’s a very natural feeling in a circumstance like that. But she’s told that she needs to have ‘empathy’ for this grownup who identifies as female, right? And that her discomfort is the problem… That feeling discomfort in that situation is wrong or makes her un-empathetic.»
Morning sun lights the front of the Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
The Trump Department of Education has warned state education departments in all 50 states that they must remove diversity, equity and inclusion policies or risk losing federal funding.
Despite this, Sanzi said many of these consultant groups have adjusted by scrubbing references to DEI on their websites and using other words to describe the same thing.
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«We see a lot of renaming,» she said. «So, they might say, ‘Well, we’re getting rid of our DEI office or we’re getting rid of our equity officer.’ [But] the proof will be in the pudding because what we notice often is that you’ll see a switch, like suddenly we hear the word belonging a lot more now. And so the question becomes, ‘Are you getting rid of it? Or are you just rebranding it and shifting it somewhere else and taking it off your website?’»
«What many people don’t understand is that the founders of these consultant companies and the people who run them and the practitioners are activists. They are ideologues,» she went on. «They have every right to believe that what they’re transmitting is the right thing, but in a public-school setting that is required to maintain viewpoint diversity, these really have no place, not only because of the cost, not only cause it’s public money, not only because they’re not very transparent about what they’re doing, but also because they are really trying to push an ideological agenda on other people’s children.»
The Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
DEI,Woke Culture,US Education,Dept of Education,Donald Trump
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Justice Department investigating University of California over alleged DEI-based hiring
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The Justice Department has announced it is investigating the University of California (UC) for alleged Title VII discrimination violations in its hiring practices.
The agency announced Thursday that its Civil Rights Division is looking into the university’s individual campuses regarding potential race- and sex-based discrimination in employment practices.
The university’s «UC 2030 Capacity Plan» directs its campuses to hire «diverse» faculty members to meet race- and sex-based employment quotas, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department has launched a Title VII investigation into the University of California over alleged race- and sex-based discrimination in faculty hiring. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, LAW JOURNAL SUED FOR ALLEGEDLY DISCRIMINATING AGAINST STRAIGHT WHITE MALES
«These initiatives openly measure new hires by their race and sex, which potentially runs afoul of federal law,» the Justice Department said in a press release.
«The Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section will investigate whether the University of California is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, sex, and other protected characteristics, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.»
Title VII prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said.
«Public employers are bound by federal laws that prohibit racial and other employment discrimination,» Dhillon said. «Institutional directives that use race- and sex-based hiring practices expose employers to legal risk under federal law.»
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division wrote to the university on Thursday, informing it of the investigation.
«Our investigation is based on information suggesting that the University of California may be engaged in certain employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race and sex in violation of Title VII,» the letter reads.
«Specifically, we have reason to believe the University of California’s ‘UC 2030 Capacity Plan’ precipitated unlawful action by the University of California and some or all its constituent campuses.»
In March, UC dropped diversity statements from its hiring practices amid President Donald Trump’s threats that schools could lose federal funding. (iStock)
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TARGETS IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL, LAW JOURNAL FOR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
UC said it will work in good faith with the Justice Department as it conducts its investigation.
«The University of California is committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws,» a UC statement provided to Fox News Digital reads. «The University also aims to foster a campus environment where everyone is welcomed and supported.»
The university’s UC 2030 Capacity Plan lays out a goal of becoming a national model as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) system. The plan outlines a pipeline strategy to diversify faculty and researchers through expanded graduate enrollment and outreach to institutions that serve underrepresented students. The DOJ, however, claims these initiatives may violate Title VII by functioning as de facto employment quotas.
In March, UC dropped diversity statements from its hiring practices amid President Donald Trump’s threats that schools could lose federal funding.
The university’s provost, Katherine S. Newman, sent out a letter to the system’s leaders informing them that diversity statements are no longer required for new applicants. Newman wrote that while some programs and departments have required them, the university has never had a policy of diversity statements and believes it could harm applicant evaluation.
University of California, Berkeley entrance sign on the corner of Oxford Street and Center Street. (iStock)
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«The requirement to submit a diversity statement may lead applicants to focus on an aspect of their candidacy that is outside their expertise or prior experience,» the letter obtained by Fox News Digital reads.
She added that employees and applicants can still reference accomplishments related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on their own, but requiring stand-alone diversity statements is no longer permitted.
Fox News’ David Spunt and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
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Iranian foreign minister reiterates ‘serious damage’ to nuclear facilities, despite ayatollah’s comments
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted in an interview on state TV that the U.S.’s strikes caused serious damage to Tehran’s nuclear facilities, despite Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s insistence that there was minimal impact.
Araghchi said in the interview that «the level of damage is high, and it’s serious damage,» according to the Associated Press.
Post-strike assessments have shown that Iran’s nuclear sites suffered damage in both U.S. and Israeli attacks. All three countries — Iran, Israel and the U.S. — have reached similar conclusions about the extent of the damage, despite what a leaked intel report indicated.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi contradicts Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the extent of damage caused by U.S. strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities. (Associated Press)
IRAN, ISRAEL AND US AGREE THAT ISLAMIC REPUBLIC NUCLEAR SITES WERE ‘BADLY DAMAGED’ DESPITE LEAKED INTEL REPORT
The only leader who seemingly does not agree with the assessments is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said that «the Americans failed to achieve anything significant in their attack on nuclear facilities,» according to reports.
Khamenei appears to be more focused on projecting strength than reflecting reality. He described Iran’s attack on Al-Udeid, the American airbase in Qatar, as a «heavy slap to the U.S.’s face.» While President Donald Trump dismissed it as a «very weak response» and thanked Iran for giving the U.S. «early notice.»
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Tuesday that the agency had «seen extensive damage at several nuclear sites in Iran, including its uranium conversion and enrichment facilities.»
This satellite picture by Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordo following U.S. airstrikes targeting the facility, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
IRAN TRYING TO ‘SAVE FACE’ FOLLOWING US STRIKE ON NUCLEAR SITES, EXPERT SAYS
In addition to discussing the damage done to Iran’s nuclear sites, Araghchi also addressed the possibility of resuming talks with the U.S. He said that the American strikes «made it more complicated and more difficult» for Iran to come to the table, but did not rule out the possibility that negotiations could resume.
Nuclear talks with the U.S. might not be entirely off the table for Iran after last week’s strikes—even if Tehran is not interested in reentering negotiations right away.
The possibility of negotiations was already in question prior to Operation Midnight Hammer, as Tehran viewed the U.S. as being «complicit» in Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, according to Reuters, citing Iranian U.N. Ambassador Ali Bahreini.
US Vice President JD Vance, from left, US President Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during an address to the nation in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
EX-SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE CALLS US STRIKES ON IRAN A ‘SHOT IN THE ARM’ FOR AMERICAN CREDIBILITY
Trump on Wednesday expressed optimism in the U.S.’s ability to resume nuclear talks with Iran.
«We’re going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know. To me, I don’t think it’s that necessary. I mean, they had a war. They fought. Now they’re going back to their world. I don’t care if I have an agreement or not. The only thing we would be asking for is what we’re asking for before about, we want no nuclear [program]. But we destroyed the nuclear,» Trump said.
Despite Trump’s statement, there is still no clear indication that the countries have plans to meet in the near future.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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