Federal grant cuts over DEI leave rural students and teachers with few options to replace funding and its benefits

Canceled federal grant money is more difficult for rural
schools to replace. (Adobe Stock photo)

Efforts to root out inclusion and equity programming prompted the Trump administration to slash educational grants, leaving rural schools in a lurch. 

The lost grant money, which funded additions such as counselors to teach mental health education, additional academic tutoring options for students and learning initiatives for teachers, is difficult for rural communities to replace.

"Federal dollars make up roughly 10% of education spending nationally, but the percentage is significantly higher in rural districts," reports Annie Ma of The Associated Press. "When the funding is reduced, many districts have no way to make up the lost money."

Since President Donald Trump returned for a second term, his administration has cut millions of dollars earmarked for "programs supporting mental health, academic enrichment and teacher development," Ma writes. Republican lawmakers defended the cuts, saying the canceled grants focused on diversity and inclusion agendas -- not academics.

In Kentucky, the loss of grant funding means student counselors and supportive programming in rural counties will most likely come to a premature end, along with the student and staffing advantages they provided. 

In Shelby County, Ky., where federal spending "makes up about 18% of schools’ budgets," Ma reports. "The programs are not political, Superintendent Joshua Matthews said, and the funding loss only hurts students."

Matthews told Ma, "We’re not promoting anything one way or the other.”

The Department of Education recently announced a new round of mental health grants, but these funds require schools to hire psychologists, not counselors. Unfortunately, there is a national shortage of school psychologists and rural schools that attempt to recruit one will compete with larger, more urban schools.

Neurodivergent workers fear facing discrimination as they return to the office

Neurodivergent workers fear for
their jobs if required to RTO.
(Photo by Christian Tarzi, Unsplash)

Neurodivergence encompasses people who may learn, think or behave differently than what is typical. Being neurodivergent can include diagnoses such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, intellectual disabilities, mental health conditions and more.

Neurodivergent challenges can be more common among rural residents who often live where access to medical and mental care for chronic conditions can be more limited. In fact, research published by Florida State University said that “The prevalence of adults living with disabilities is significantly higher in rural areas compared to metropolitan areas.”

“About a fifth of U.S. adults self-identify as neurodivergent,” according to an article by Danielle Abril at The Washington Post. For these workers, being in the office can be challenging.

During Covid, the number of people who worked from home went from 9 million to 28 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Now, workers are being called back into the office.

“Some neurodivergent workers discovered success working remotely during the pandemic and don’t feel comfortable disclosing their diagnoses due to fear of and prior instances of discrimination,” wrote Abril.

Through interviews with neurodivergent workers, Abril found that in some cases, after disclosing their diagnosis, workers have been fired days later or told to get it under control. However, “Even before the pandemic, companies were required under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) to offer accommodations, which might include adjustable work schedules, to people who disclosed their neurodivergence.”

In an interview with Abril, Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan said, “the company continues to believe that the advantages of being together … are significant.”

While working from home can create a more comfortable and productive environment for some workers, there is still a push by companies for employees to return to the office.

Kristyn Roth, chief marketing officer of the Autism Society of America, told Abril, “The job market right now is really competitive… If accommodations [like flexibility] are being cut and DEI services continue to be deprioritized, job opportunities become even more narrow for autistic or neurodiverse workers.”

FEMA moves to close its popular Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program

BRIC grants helped communities of all sizes prepare
for natural disasters. (Adobe Stock photo)

Despite the ongoing reality of extreme weather hitting communities around the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to end its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.

"In an internal FEMA memorandum, the Trump administration announced its plans to dismantle that program — the biggest climate adaptation initiative the federal government has ever funded — even as disasters incur hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damages across the United States," report Zoya Teirstein and Jake Bittle of Grist. The billions of dollars BRIC grants provided were used to help cities, counties and states prepare for natural disasters before they strike.

BRIC was created in 2018, during Donald Trump's first term and its first round of funding was "launched in 2020, when Trump was still in office, and in 2023, the program awarded close to a billion dollars to scores of communities, states, and tribal nations across the country," Grist reports. "In January, before Trump began his second term, the agency opened its fiscal year 2024 notice of funding, with $750 million in matching grants made available to applicants from areas that received a major disaster declaration within the past seven years."

Commenting on BRIC's failure to meet the program's objectives, a FEMA spokesperson told Grist, "BRIC was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with climate change than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.”

BRIC's focus "on equity is what may have marked it for demolition — the Trump administration has been systematically dismantling Biden-era efforts to infuse equity into governmental programs and direct more climate spending toward underrepresented groups," Teirstein and Bittle explain.

From building culverts to protecting substations from flooding, the popular program helped communities complete practical but often expensive disaster preparation projects. Teirstein and Bittle write, "In fiscal year 2023, FEMA received more than 1,200 subapplications across all 50 states, 35 tribes, five territories, and Washington, D.C., totaling more than $5.6 billion in requests. It was able to provide less than a fifth of the money requested."

It's uncertain if current grants can be lawfully terminated. "A looming question is whether FEMA can yank grants that are being funded with money appropriated by Congress," Grist reports. "The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the bipartisan infrastructure law, allocated approximately $6.8 billion to FEMA for community-wide mitigation efforts, with a portion of this funding directed to the BRIC program."