Massachusetts School Districts Cut Equity Offices Amid Budget Pressures and Federal Uncertainty
Massachusetts school districts are scaling back or eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as shrinking enrollments and reduced federal funding strain budgets — with educators warning that the cuts will fall hardest on Black, brown, and low-income students.
Why It Matters
Equity offices in public schools have typically focused on reducing racial disparities in academic outcomes, school discipline, and teacher retention. Supporters argue that dismantling these programs removes a structural layer of support for students who are already underserved. At least four Massachusetts districts have eliminated DEI positions or programs despite resistance from parents and community groups.
“If students don’t feel a sense of belonging, and if they don’t feel heard and valued, then they are less likely to pursue higher education and career opportunities,” said Jennifer Herring, executive director of the Worcester Education Collaborative and an adjunct professor of psychology focusing on school trauma.
What Happened
In Brookline — a high-income district on Boston’s border — the school board voted 5-4 in March 2025 to close its Office of Educational Equity, which had been led by Claire Galloway-Jones since July 2023. The district cited a projected $8 million budget shortfall and said the office did not provide sufficient direct student support.
Galloway-Jones had taken over the department during a period of significant institutional strain. The district faced documented allegations of failing to address racial bullying, including an incident in which a student mimicked the killing of George Floyd. Between 2021 and 2023, 18 educators of color departed, continuing a pattern of short tenures. The district has also cycled through five superintendents over the past decade.
When the district’s operations funding was cut at the start of the 2024–25 school year, Galloway-Jones sought alternative revenue, including a state grant of $25,000 to recruit and retain teachers of color. She said the district denied that request without explanation.
Community members mobilized to prevent the office’s closure, raising more than $188,000. The school board voted to shut it down regardless; all donated funds were returned.
“I don’t think that people are being honest and transparent about what’s happening,” Galloway-Jones said. “They didn’t value the work because they didn’t understand it.”
By the Numbers
- $8 million: Brookline’s projected budget deficit heading into the 2024–25 school year
- 18: Educators of color who left Brookline between 2021 and 2023
- $188,000+: Amount raised by parents and community members in an unsuccessful bid to preserve the equity office
- 5-4: The school board vote to close the office in March 2025
- 4: Massachusetts districts that have cut DEI initiatives or positions, according to available reporting
Zoom Out
The Brookline closure reflects a broader national pattern. The Trump administration’s push against DEI programs in K–12 schools generated widespread uncertainty before a federal judge struck down the Department of Education’s anti-DEI guidance in August, ruling it unconstitutionally vague and procedurally deficient. The administration subsequently dropped its appeal and reached a settlement with the NAACP, agreeing to discontinue use of its enforcement portal.
Michaele Turnage Young, co-lead counsel with the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, said the original guidance has been “in every sense of the word neutralized,” and that instruction covering topics such as systemic racism, the civil rights movement, and slavery remains legally permissible in public schools.
Four New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island — had already declared they would not comply with the federal directive prior to the court ruling. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education defended its diversity initiatives in an April 2025 letter to federal officials, and both Governor Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell have pledged to challenge anti-DEI mandates.
New Hampshire has taken a different path. Several districts there signed compliance certifications before the directive was invalidated, and the state has enacted laws that parallel the now-defunct federal guidance. The state’s House education committee chair drew scrutiny after messages were leaked in which he appeared to advocate for politically segregated schools. Hampshire College’s closure earlier this year illustrated the mounting pressures on Massachusetts educational institutions more broadly — pressures now reaching the K–12 level.
What’s Next
With the federal anti-DEI directive no longer in force, advocates are focused on preventing districts from treating the legal uncertainty as ongoing justification for cuts. Budget pressures, however, remain real and independent of federal policy. Massachusetts districts facing enrollment declines and reduced federal aid will continue making difficult funding decisions through the next budget cycle, with equity programs likely to remain under scrutiny. Similar dynamics — institutions acknowledging a problem but lacking effective tools to address it — have appeared in other Massachusetts policy debates this year.