School districts across the US are cutting budgets, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work may be the first to go. In Massachusetts, at least four districts have cut DEI initiatives or positions despite community support, citing shrinking student enrollments and rollbacks in federal funding.
The Brookline school district, a wealthy district on Boston’s edge, faced allegations of repeatedly failing to address incidents of racial bullying and harassment. Claire Galloway-Jones, who led the district’s Office of Educational Equity, said the district denied her routine request for funding without explanation.
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At the start of the 2024-25 school year, the district announced a projected $8 million budget deficit, and all operations funding for Galloway-Jones’ department was pulled. The school board proposed closing the office altogether, citing budget constraints and saying that the office didn’t provide enough direct student support.
Cuts to DEI Initiatives
Other districts in Massachusetts, such as Brockton Public Schools and Framingham Public Schools, have also cut their DEI initiatives. Brockton closed its equity, diversity, and inclusion office in 2024 amid a projected $25 million deficit, while Framingham considered eliminating its director of belonging position to help address a $9 million budget cut.
Newton Public Schools, another Boston-area district, approved a new budget that included cuts to its diversity office. The district created the DEI office in 2020, and at one point, it employed two full-time people and one part-time person. By this school year, only the DEI director was left; the new cuts will reduce that person’s work to part-time.
Jennifer Herring, executive director of the Worcester Education Collaborative, said losing offices and education leaders whose sole job is to advance equity will have both short- and long-term consequences for Black, brown, and low-income students and those with disabilities.
Federal Guidance on DEI
In August, a federal judge struck down the federal Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter, which threatened to pull funding from schools that engaged in DEI programs or curricula. The department said those efforts discriminated against white and Asian students. The Trump administration dropped its appeal in late January and reached a separate settlement with the NAACP.
Michaele Turnage Young, co-lead counsel with the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, said her group and others are now trying to spread the word that the documents have been declared unlawful and unconstitutional. “It’s perfectly fine for students to learn about systemic racism, whether that shows up in instruction about the civil rights movement, slavery, in any aspect of our history or our present,” she said.
Four New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island — said they would not comply with the anti-DEI directive even before it was struck down in court. In an April 2025 letter to the federal government, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education defended diversity initiatives, citing them as “a reason for our success, not a barrier to it.”
Impact on Students
Students in the affected districts are feeling the impact of the cuts. Marcos Gomes, a high school student in Brockton, said, “A lot of people do not feel included every day they come here. I can hear it in the hallways.” Amelia Viera, another student, called the EDI program “nothing short of life-changing,” adding, “We discovered a sense of purpose that previously eluded us.”
Rielle Montague, a parent in Newton, said, “I thought it was inadequate as it was. To me, it’s a big statement to say, ‘You know what, it’s not even that important to have a full-time person for this large school district.’ It is very disappointing and a step in the wrong direction.”
In Brookline, some families see lasting harm from the Trump administration’s anti-DEI letter and the diversity office’s closure. Raul Fernandez, a parent and director of local group Brookline for Racial Justice and Equity, said, “Sometimes people just need a permission structure to do what they might have done on their own if they didn’t feel like they were gonna be cast as racist or bigoted.”