OPINION — President Trump called on the nation’s schools to certify they’re not using DEI practices to receive federal education funds, so state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is pushing to comply by removing what he calls “woke ideology” in Arizona’s schools.
The State Board of Education started a process to eliminate DEI language from K-12. Horne also launched a hotline to report teaching that promotes “woke ideology” content.
“Not only is the $866 million at risk, there is a philosophical issue at stake too. All people should be judged based on their character and ability, not their race or ethnicity,” he stated in a press release. “DEI language and programs promote the exact opposite, and they have no place in the classroom. The teaching standards, unfortunately, include DEI references, and they need to be removed.”
In fact, DEI laws ensure all people are judged on character and ability, including women and minorities. The term DEI means diversity (all races and genders), equity (equality) and inclusion (acceptance of all citizens).
“Woke” is a term widely acknowledged to have originated in Black dialect to mean “awoke” to systemic racial prejudice and injustice. Conservatives co-opted the word as part of a “culture war strategy” directed toward those not in the conservative camp. The conservative version of “woke” means DEI is a radical, divisive and intolerant progressive ideology that is fundamentally at odds with traditional American principles.
Eliminating DEI from schools can disproportionately harm girls and women. DEI programs address systemic inequalities that make it harder for women and girls to succeed and also means fewer ways to combat these barriers.
Cuts also mean fewer faculty and staff trained to support diverse students, leading to a loss of mentors crucial for impacting women in STEM fields like science, technology, engineering and math.
Rollbacks of DEI in schools can translate to limiting career development for women entering male dominated fields. The result means limiting women’s and minorities’ ability to challenge inequity. Institutions that eliminate DEI often become less attractive to diverse students who opt for universities that retain DEI support, according to the Scholars Strategy Network.
Experts warn that eliminating DEI could be an economic and educational setback, hurting access and opportunity for women and minorities. Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill in May 2025 that tried to remove all state funds from universities and community colleges offering DEI-related courses, calling that bill “Detrimental, Ineffective, Nonsensical and Objectionable.”
Democratic State Sen. Priya Sundareshan of Tucson has publicly opposed the GOP-led push to eliminate DEI, often citing concerns about free speech, discrimination and the value of exclusivity.
The Arizona Education Association urged the Arizona State Board of Education to maintain existing standards that acknowledge how every child’s life experiences affect their learning style, regardless of their background.
In April 2025, the 25th Navajo Nation Council introduced and deliberated emergency legislation opposing Horne’s directives to remove DEI language and policies from schools. Representatives from the Arizona Students Association spoke against bills that threaten to cut funding to schools.
Osborn, Avondale and Gadsden school districts lost significant federal grant money due to the loss of DEI programs, and Maricopa Community Colleges ended their DEI programs. These federal actions target grants supporting programs for teacher recruitment and retention at a time when the state suffers from a severe shortage of over four thousand vacant teacher positions.
The primary reason for the removal of DEI in Arizona has been a federal executive order and subsequent guidance from the U.S. Dept. of Education, not a specific Arizona state law.
The largest group affected by the Conservative faction of the government against DEI is women. Laws that protect women and girls were hard-fought. Just as minorities would suffer when equality is not protected by law, women and girls would also be set back for diversity, equality and inclusion.
Those who want to protect those laws that women and minorities worked hard to get can let their state representatives know how they feel about this. The website Arizonans can use to find their representatives’ name and contact information is azleg.gov.
Women’s Watch is a cooperative writing effort of the local chapters of the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters and the National Organization for Women. This piece was authored by Lorie Lux. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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