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Biden Education Department spent over $1 billion on DEI grants: report

Researchers at the organization pored through nearly four years of publicly available data from the Department of Education to determine the number of grants and the dollar amount awarded to students and school districts for grants that had a clear DEI "motive."

From 2021 to present, they found the Biden administration awarded 229 grants across 42 states and Washington, D.C. that met that criteria.

President Biden delivers remarks regarding student loan debt forgiveness alongside Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in August 2022.

The total grant amount "incorporates both awarded (committed) and disbursed dollars, as most of the grant money is distributed [a] period of several years," the report states.

Grants that fit into more than one of these categories were only counted once, Parents Defending Education researcher, Rhyen Staley, explained. He also said that their report likely undercounts the actual number of grants given, because researchers were conservative in determining which ones met their criteria. For example, he said PDE researchers excluded examples where they determined DEI was not the goal of the program, even if the grant's abstract used DEI "buzzwords."

Parents in St. Paul, Minnesota, protesting outside a public school district on Nov. 3, 2021.  (Getty Images)

A new report found at least $1 billion has been spent on DEI grants for public schools by the Biden administration. (iStock)

Staley said the report clearly shows how the Biden administration has been "incentivizing" far-left ideologies in US schools rather than "rigorous, proven methods of instruction," to the detriment of students.

"The only people or groups to benefit from the enormous amount of grant funding are the universities, administrators, and DEI consultants, at the expense of children’s education," he said. "This needs to change by placing children’s learning at the forefront of education, instead of prioritizing race-based policies and DEI."

Michele Exner, Senior Advisor at Parents Defending Education, also characterized the spending as wasteful when students are already failing to meet academic standards.

"Over one billion dollars squandered on progressive pet projects all while American students’ academic performance continues to plummet. Under Secretary Cardona, this organization has been a complete farce that has failed families and students time and time again. This will be the legacy of the Biden administration’s Department of Education. Families are fed up and are excited for January when we will have new leadership in the nation’s capital who will focus on getting this toxic and divisive waste out of our education system," she said.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Getty Images)

The Department of Education did not return a request for comment.

President-elect Trump has pledged to abolish the Education Department when he returns to office and cut down on wasteful spending in the federal government.

Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.