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House votes to charge D.C. 14-year-olds as adults

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · 24d

#DCstatehood

Enough.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 24d

House lawmakers voted to allow 14-year-olds to be tried as adults and to treat young people more harshly in the D.C. justice system — fulfilling a top request from the Trump administration despite universal opposition among top D.C. elected officials.

The House also voted to restrict judges from giving lighter sentences to young adults, among 14 D.C. crime-related policy proposals from the GOP.

www.washingtonpost.com

DEEP DIVE: Who Benefits? Considerations for Education Leaders regarding Immigrants’ Access to “Public Benefits”

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · 26d

Important story but make sure to read to 10th paragraph to learn that the policy has been *stopped* for now by a federal court for likely violating the law—and the ruling applies nationwide. All eligible Head Start students are still eligible.

Much more here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Who Benefits? Considerations for Education Leaders regarding Immigrants’ Access to “Public Benefits” Mario Cardona & Dan Gordon | September 9, 2025 (updated September 12, 2025) The Trump Administrat...

docs.google.com

Reposted by Dan Gordon

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · Aug 26

BREAKING: Trump-appointed judge *dismisses* DOJ lawsuit against Maryland judges over their decision to automatically pause deportation cases for 48 hours

He also calls Trump and his admin's attack on judges a "smear" that is "unprecedented and unfortunate
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 25

And they’re doing it in a way that misstates and/or misleads about the law. Our “Misguidance” piece unpacks all the problems with the DOJ guidance. 🧵 below:

bsky.app/profile/dang...

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

🧵 We just published "Misguidance," a deep analysis of the recent Dept of Justice (DOJ) guidance on how the Administration is applying antidiscrimination laws to efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion:

drive.google.com/file/d/1q3H6...

#EduSky #CivilRights #highered

Reposted by Dan Gordon

Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · Aug 20

Washington DC’s 700,000+ residents deserve federal representation.

DC statehood now.

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Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 15

Policy-by-ctrl-f has its limits as a theory of governance….

Fears Grow That Trump Will Cut Special Education Support Funding

Reposted by Dan Gordon

Zahava Stadler @zahavastadler.bsky.social · Aug 15

Just to be clear, if you cancel every special education grant that mentions "inclusion," you will cancel NEARLY EVERY SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANT. www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Advocacy organizations are warning members to brace for "hundreds" of grant terminations.

www.edweek.org

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Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 14

Great news - judge issued a final ruling in case brought by AFT (via Democracy Forward) completely vacating OCR's "Dear Colleague" letter & anti-DEI certification. These policy moves were forerunners for recent DOJ recent guidance - see 🧵 below for more on that

www.courtlistener.com/docket/69672...

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

🧵 We just published "Misguidance," a deep analysis of the recent Dept of Justice (DOJ) guidance on how the Administration is applying antidiscrimination laws to efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion:

drive.google.com/file/d/1q3H6...

#EduSky #CivilRights #highered

Fears Grow That Trump Will Cut Special Education Support Funding

Reposted by Dan Gordon

Mark Lieberman @marklieberman.bsky.social · Aug 14

Federal IDEA grants affecting special education research and parent support are likely to be cut in the coming weeks, advocates say: www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Advocacy organizations are warning members to brace for "hundreds" of grant terminations.

www.edweek.org

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Reposted by Dan Gordon

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

🧵 We just published "Misguidance," a deep analysis of the recent Dept of Justice (DOJ) guidance on how the Administration is applying antidiscrimination laws to efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion:

drive.google.com/file/d/1q3H6...

#EduSky #CivilRights #highered

Exclusive: Support for Schools Falls, But Closing Education Dept. is Unpopular

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Reposted by Dan Gordon

The 74 @the74.bsky.social · Aug 14

Latest PDK Poll also reflects rising embrace of private school choice, support for DEI and a backlash against artificial intelligence. @lrj417.bsky.social reports

Latest PDK Poll also reflects rising embrace of private school choice, support for DEI and a backlash against artificial intelligence.

www.the74million.org

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Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

11/11
Full paper ➜ drive.google.com/file/d/1q3H6...

Executive summary ➜ drive.google.com/file/d/1P1HG...

EducationCounsel - MISGUIDANCE Executive Summary - 8.12.25.pdf

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

10/ Our bottom line: DOJ’s guidance will most likely chill lawful activities creating equal opportunities for all. In this period of federal uncertainty and overreach, education leaders must not substitute the Administration’s anti-“DEI” policy preferences for the actual law of the land.

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

9/ It's all nuanced but really important. The risk here is being misguided into thinking all sorts of generally lawful strategies are categorically unlawful, including training, outreach, selection criteria (incl about candidates' lived experiences), student groups/programming, and more.

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

8/ Tree #4: Misguiding the Field Through Misleading Examples

Most of DOJ’s examples of “unlawful practices” are only unlawful if the assumptions embedded in the hypotheticals are true. DOJ fails to clarify for the field the range of lawful ways to pursue legitimate goals via race-neutral means.

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

7/ Tree #3: Delegitimizing Lawful Race-Neutral Means that Advance Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Goals

Authentic mission-aligned race-neutral criteria (eg 1st-gen) are ok, even if correlated w/race. DOJ’s treatment of this blurs correlation w/intent & overstates legal risk of acting w/mixed motives.

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

6/ Tree #2: Delegitimizing Federal Court-Endorsed Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Interests

DOJ gives the false impression that diversity is no longer a legitimate inst'l interest (even post-SCT in SFFA v Harvard). For ex., inclusive outreach/recruitment is permissible, but DOJ suggests it's not.

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

5/ Tree #1: Delegitimizing Efforts to Address Discrimination

DOJ discourages considering race, sex, etc in performance metrics even though disaggregated data is key to identifying and lowering barriers. This risks freezing inequities in place & undermining obligations to address discrimination.

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

4/ "Misguidance" analyzes the guidance from three perspectives:
- the “FOREST” (bigger context of the Admin's anti-"DEI" efforts)
- four “TREES” (cross‑cutting themes/shortcomings)
- several “BRANCHES” (misleading examples)

Here are the four "trees" 👇

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

3/ While some portions of DOJ's guidance reflect current law, others misstate or overreach—creating a real risk of chilling lawful practices to ensure equal opportunity for all. That's why it's so important to read it carefully & with a critical lens.

EducationCounsel - MISGUIDANCE Executive Summary - 8.12.25.pdf

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

2/ It's a long piece because there's a lot to unpack. We also drafted a one-page executive summary that gives you a sense of the key issues we flag in the piece:
drive.google.com/file/d/1P1HG...

Dan Gordon @dangordondc.bsky.social · Aug 13

🧵 We just published "Misguidance," a deep analysis of the recent Dept of Justice (DOJ) guidance on how the Administration is applying antidiscrimination laws to efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion:

drive.google.com/file/d/1q3H6...

#EduSky #CivilRights #highered