Education
New York Warns Trump It Will Not Comply With Public School D.E.I. Order
The New York State Education Department on Friday issued a defiant response to the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding from public schools over certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a remarkable departure from the conciliatory approach of other institutions in recent weeks.
Daniel Morton-Bentley, the deputy commissioner for legal affairs at the state education agency in New York, wrote in a letter to federal education officials that “we understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion.’”
“But there are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of D.E.I.,” Mr. Morton-Bentley wrote, adding that the federal government has not defined what practices it believes violate civil rights protections.
The stern letter was sent one day after the federal government issued a memo to education officials across the nation, asking them to confirm the elimination of all programs it argues unfairly promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Title I funding for schools with high percentages of low-income students was at risk pending compliance, federal officials said.
New York’s stance differed from the muted and often deferential responses across academia and other major institutions to the Trump administration’s threats. Some universities have quietly scrubbed diversity websites and canceled events to comply with executive orders — and to avoid the ire of the White House.
A divide emerged last spring as the presidents of several universities, including Harvard and Columbia, adopted cautious responses when confronted by House Republicans at congressional hearings regarding antisemitism. In contrast, K-12 leaders, including David C. Banks, chancellor of New York City’s public schools at the time, took a combative approach.
The latest wave of pushback is spreading. In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday that the city would take the Trump administration to court if it snatched away funding, according to The Chicago Tribune.
“We’re not going to be intimidated by these threats,” Mr. Johnson said. “It’s just that simple. So whatever it is that this tyrant is trying to do to this city, we’re going to fight back.”
Unlike universities that rely on federal funding for medical and scientific research, public school districts are more insulated from threats to their bottom line because 90 percent of their funding comes from state and local taxes.
The Trump administration’s memo used a broad interpretation of a Supreme Court decision in 2023 that declared race-based affirmative action programs were unlawful at colleges and universities. That ruling did not address issues involving K-12 schools.
The expansive reasoning did not sit well with New York. The state’s letter argued that the case did “not have the totemic significance that you have assigned it” — and that federal officials were free to make policy pronouncements, but “cannot conflate policy with law.”
Mr. Morton-Bentley also called out what he described as an about-face within the top ranks of the administration.
He pointed out that the education secretary in President Trump’s first term, Betsy DeVos, once told staff that “diversity and inclusion are the cornerstones of high organizational performance.” She also said that “diversity and inclusion are key elements for success” for “building strong teams,” he wrote.
“This is an abrupt shift,” Mr. Morton-Bentley said, adding that the federal government has “provided no explanation for how and why it changed positions.”
The Trump administration’s memo included a certification letter confirming compliance that officials must sign and return to the Education Department within 10 days. New York indicated that it would treat the demand as a request rather than a requirement.
“No further certification will be forthcoming,” the state’s letter said.
Toubab Dialao came to the rescue. This small fishing village was already an unlikely haven for artists: In the 1970s, the Haitian artist Gérard Chenet, a political exile, had settled in the area and built a hybrid art center, Sobo Badè, which boasts a theater and space for artist residencies, as well as a hotel and restaurant.
“Step by step, my father brought a lot of international artists,” Ibrahima Jacques Chenet, Chenet’s son, said at Sobo Badè. Some stayed and opened other art spaces, earning Toubab Dialao a reputation as a cultural village, Chenet said.
After holding some intensives at Sobo Badè, Acogny and Vogt looked for a space of their own. Acogny sold a small apartment she owned in Paris and Vogt added his savings to secure the grounds of the École des Sables and build the sand studio. Yet developing the school further, and making it financially viable, proved daunting.
“We would hold workshops with dancers from 25 African countries,” Vogt said, “but we had to find ways to cover the costs, because African dancers often don’t have the money to pay for training.”
In the absence of funding from Senegal’s ministry of culture, help has mostly come from European and American foundations, as well as the European Union; the luxury brand Chanel has been a partner for the past two years. Over the years, the school was able to build bungalows to house students and artists on site, as well as a second studio. But the lack of resources directed to culture on the African continent is an issue for artists, Acogny said. (Earlier this week, the budget for the African Dance Biennial, set to open on April 29, was still around $47,000 short, according to Vogt.)
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April 21, 2026
This article is part of our Museums special section about how institutions are commemorating the past as they move into the future.
As kidSTREAM prepares to open in Ventura County, it joins a national wave of new children’s museums, expansions of existing institutions and a broadened lineup of programming aimed at young visitors.
Originally opened in 1963 as the Junior Museum of Oneida, the institution has relocated several times and reopened last May in a 14,000-square-foot space. A two-story climber anchors the main floor, allowing children to navigate ramps, platforms and woven rope pathways. The museum houses five themed galleries, including World Market, which introduces music, art and cultural traditions from around the world, and Let’s Experiment, devoted to STEAM-based learning through prism and light exploration, an animation station and other hands-on activities.
The Museums Special Section
Founded by two mothers, Erin Gallagher and Meg Hagen, the museum opened last September in a former farm and garden center. They set out to establish a dedicated children’s institution to serve as an anchor for the community. The 6,400-square-foot space includes 12 exhibit areas focused on STEM exploration, art, engineering, imaginative play and sensory activities. It also offers family and after-school programs, as well as designated sensory-friendly hours. An additional 4,000 square feet of outdoor play space is expected to open in late spring.
In March, the 90,000-square-foot museum expanded with the Gallery of Wonder, a 9,000-square-foot early childhood space designed for children from infancy to age 5. The gallery includes five interactive environments. Into the Woods invites climbing, swinging and fort building in a forest setting, while Under the Waves offers a softly lit ocean cove with sensory-focused light and sound where children can play with puppets. Viva Village centers on community life, encouraging children to role-play everyday helpers. Tot*Spot, reimagined as an oversized garden, caters to infants and toddlers, while the outdoor Treetop Terrace is a space for active play.
The museum debuted two permanent exhibits in October as part of a broader transformation. Galactic Builders is a 1,788-square-foot space-themed environment that invites children to design rockets, engineer rovers and explore physics concepts through hands-on exploration. SKIES is a quieter, sensory-focused space featuring reading nooks, a dedicated area to rest and recharge and immersive visuals of sunrises, sunsets and drifting clouds. Together, the additions expand the museum’s interactive footprint by more than 4,500 square feet and mark the first phase of a multiyear effort to update its learning environments for young visitors.
In November, the museum unveiled a $11.6 million expansion that doubled its footprint to more than 30,000 square feet. The addition includes three galleries, two of which house permanent exhibits. The Sunflower Gallery is a hands-on environment where children can explore the prairie ecosystem and includes a two-story sunflower structure they can climb. The Hall of Bright Ideas celebrates creative Kansans with engineering-based activities. A third gallery will host traveling exhibitions, and the expansion adds three laboratory classrooms for STEAM programs and camps.
Conceived by a former preschool teacher and children’s cartoon artist, Mike Bennett, the Portland Aquarium opened last June as an animal-free, cartoon-style aquarium. Bennett said he wanted marine science to feel like “stepping inside a hand-drawn cartoon.” The 5,000-square-foot space showcases six ocean biomes, including the Wreck, focused on deep-sea carnivores and mysterious creatures, and the Open Ocean, highlighting some of the largest animals that swim in the seas. Throughout, visitors encounter illustrations of more than 100 marine species, including sea otters, jellyfish and great white sharks. Each child receives a guidebook created in collaboration with marine biologists to use throughout the galleries.
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