PHOENIX – Arizona’s schools chief said last week the Kyrene school district would have to give up more than $1.5 million in federal funds over its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion stance, but Arizona’s attorney general responded Monday, saying Tom Horne had “no legal basis for his threat.”

Horne  said that the Kyrene school board has adopted “a policy that further embeds Diversity, Equity and Inclusion language into district operations.

“At its April 8 meeting,” according to a release from Horne’s office, “the district’s governing board unanimously approved a ‘Staff Social Emotional Wellness Policy’ that states, ‘Policy 1-204 Equal Opportunity - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outlines Kyrene’s commitment to value, respect, and celebrate diversity in the workplace.’ This is contrary to recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education that says schools promoting DEI will forfeit federal dollars."

For the upcoming school year, the Kyrene district is expected to have a federal allocation of more than $1.5 million for funds to schools with low-income students, for teacher training and other programs.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes countered Horne’s “threat” was made “not because the district broke any laws, but because it proposed a policy that signaled the district's commitment to creating a kind, empathetic and respectful workplace.

“Superintendent Horne cited no legal basis for his threat - because, in fact, there is none.”

 Horne said: “The most interesting philosophical divide in our country right now is between those like me who believe in individual merit, and those who want to substitute racial entitlement. DEI is all about racial entitlement.

“The problem with racial entitlement is that it does nothing to promote hard work, conscientiousness or creativity. If those advocating for it succeed in having it replace individual merit, we will become a mediocre, Third World country. China will become the dominant power.”

Mayes said the funding that Horne seeks to block supports low-income students, teacher training and classroom programs.

“Rather than do his job and ensure that funds appropriated by Congress and the Legislature reach Arizona schools - as the law requires - Superintendent Horne is choosing to engage in ideological nonsense at the expense of students and teachers,” the attorney general said.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.