- Utah State Board of Education rejects proposed letter supporting President Trump's recent actions to dismantle the Department of Education.
- Some board members argue Utah is equipped to manage key education programs — others disagree.
- The board also rejects DEI-themed resolution.
By majority vote on Thursday, the Utah State Board of Education decided to nix a pair of proposed board statements — one declaring board support of state/local control over educational funding; the other, a resolution in support of disbanding all DEI practices.
By a 10-4 margin, the board denied a call to send an “Intent Letter” to President Donald Trump, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and Utah’s U.S. Congressional delegation formally stating that it supports state and local control over educational funding and “endorses the initiative to return federal education funds to the states.”
The Intent Letter, which comes shortly after Trump’s executive order calling for the elimination of the Department of Education (DOE), had evolved in recent days into a two-paragraph letter. Gone from the letter’s final draft were specific references to Trump and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s support of the president’s DOE actions.
The final Intent Letter stated that Utah education leaders would be better at managing programs funded by DOE such as Title I and Special Education.
“The Board aims to demonstrate that state and local governance is best equipped to serve the interests of students and looks forward to ongoing engagement,” the letter concluded.
Board member Jennie Earl said the letter affirms Utah’s willingness and capacity to manage education within the state, including financial resources that go toward services such as assistance for special education students.
“We’re asking that that funding remain in the state and that we are able to use that funding for the purposes of providing for our students. ... This is just a simple statement that says: ‘We can do this. We’re ready to do it. We can take this on.‘”
Board member Carol Barlow Lear opposed the letter, saying she “has not been impressed” in recent years with how the state has managed education funds.
She pointed to the Utah Fits Alls voucher program as an example of the state “not doing a good job” — and added she worried current federal funding levels for DOE-supported educational programs could be diminished.
“There is no evidence, in my mind, to say the state can do this better,” said Barlow Lear.
DEI resolution rejected
Meanwhile, a proposed school board resolution directing “removal of DEI in Utah schools” also failed after prompting a divided response from board members — and, as several reported, from many of their constituents.
Some board members asked to postpone consideration of the resolution until next month to flesh out details and clear up misunderstandings.
In the end, the decision was made to vote on the resolution.
There was insufficient board support needed for adoption: Four board members voted in favor of the resolution — while 10 cast “Nay” votes.
Board member Sarah Reale pushed for an immediate vote on the resolution, saying: “No amount of work or time or wordsmithing or changes would give the public or myself any chance of (the resolution) being something that we would actually support and approve. It is something that is taking up a lot of our time. It’s unnecessary.”
Reale added there are already laws in place regarding DEI.
“We do not need this resolution. There are better things that we could be working on right now, and postponing it is dragging out all of the pain and stress and worry from the hundreds of people that we have heard from.”
Board member Emily Green, who voted in favor, argued that the resolution works in harmony with existing laws “removing radical DEI ideologies.”
“As I see this, we are talking about complying with the law.”
The proposed resolution began with a statement that DEI are “explicitly programs, processes or implemented ideas attempting to achieve the Soviet policy goal of equity … by implementing a political favoritism program … in the name of identity politics.”
Such approaches, the letter resolution added, “foster division, not unity.”
The proposed resolution also cited the 2024 Legislature’s House Bill 261, which overhauls DEI programs at public institutions in the state — along with Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order calling for the termination of DEI offices and practices and DOE’s recent formal elimination of DEI “within their agency and education at large.”
The proposed resolution concluded by calling on all LEAs (Local Education Agency), instructional and administrative personnel “to immediately disband any and all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practices per the codified language of HB 261.”