Today, there were two important updates regarding the new requirement that every state certify that it—and every school district in it—are complying with Title VI and the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title VI as prohibiting “illegal DEI practices.” 

First, the deadline has been pushed from April 13 to April 24. The Department of Education and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit led by the National Education Association reached an agreement that ED would not take enforcement action based on the certification or lack thereof before April 24, 2025.

Second, the Texas Education Agency announced that school districts in Texas must sign the identical certification. In a “To the Administrator Addressed” letter, TEA informed districts, “School systems who receive federal funds must sign the certification. To avoid interruption in funds, please sign and return” by April 23, 2024.

We anticipate that districts in other states will soon receive similar notifications from their state education agencies if they haven’t already.

Before signing the certification form, districts should exercise due diligence in evaluating their compliance with Title VI.  To read more about the certification process, read our original blog post, “ED Requires States to Certify That K12 Schools Are Not Using ‘DEI’ to Discriminate: What it Means for Schools.”