Charlotte-area school grants cut after Department of Education claims they promote DEI
Charlotte-area schools lost millions in federal grant funding this week because programs promoted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to a U.S. Department of Education letter.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools lost three grants totaling over $5 million in 2025 and 2026, including one grant partially funding an advanced teacher training program. As part of the Teacher-Leader Pathway program, the district sought to attract a diverse range of highly effective teachers to work at high-need schools.
The grant was slated to provide $1.9 million in funds for the program this year and $2.9 million next year.
The Feb. 18 letter notifying the district of the grant’s termination said it was due to the fact that it “promotes or takes part in DEI initiatives.” The Charlotte Observer obtained the letter via a public records request.
“The Acting Secretary of Education has determined that, per the Department’s obligations to the constitutional and statutory law of the United States, this priority includes ensuring that the Department’s grants do not support programs or organizations that promote or take part in diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives or any other initiatives that unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or another protected characteristic,” the Department of Education’s letter stated.
The grant was terminated “effective immediately” on Tuesday. District leaders said later that day they still hope to continue the Teacher-Leader Pathway program without the grant funding.
Another slashed CMS grant was for $1.8 million for a collaboration between the district and UNC Charlotte to improve teacher recruitment at schools with a high need for teachers. A grant for $2.1 million for a similar collaboration between UNC Charlotte and Gaston County Schools and Union County Public Schools was also cut.
$600 million cut
The U.S. Department of Education announced in a Monday news release it terminated over $600 million nationwide in grants to teacher training programs that involved DEI initiatives, saying they were “using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies,” in a news release Monday.
“Many of these grants included teacher and staff recruiting strategies implicitly and explicitly based on race,” the statement said.
According to the news release, applications for grants that terminated included projects such as professional development workshops and equity training on topics such as “Building Cultural Competence,” “Dismantling Racial Bias” and “Centering Equity in the Classroom,” as well as “providing spaces for critical reflection to help educators confront biases and have transformative conversations about equity.”
While Title I, II, and III grants have not been cut, CMS leadership is concerned they could be next.
In CMS, Title I grants largely fund schools with a high proportion of economically disadvantaged students. Title II grants address development of teachers and effective instruction. Title III funds programming for multilingual learners.
“They’ve already started cutting the discretionary. So that’s a definite,” CMS chief financial officer Kelly Kluttz said at a budget planning meeting Tuesday. “We believe Title I, II and III are certainly at risk at this point.”
Around 2,100 people – over 10% of the district’s employees – are currently paid using federal funding.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
