The Trump administration’s efforts to politicize the Department of Education escalated on Thursday with the unveiling of what critics are calling a “tip line” — an online portal encouraging students, parents, and school staff to report what it describes as “unlawful discriminatory practices” in educational institutions.
According to the Department of Education (DOE), the submissions will be used to pinpoint areas for potential investigation.
The website was introduced via a press release from Moms for Liberty, the controversial organization leading the charge to remove LGBTQ+ materials from school libraries. This signals an apparent partnership between the group and the DOE as the agency intensifies its crackdown on schools that fail to comply with Trump’s directives on DEI and so-called “gender ideology.”
“For years, parents have been pleading for schools to return to the basics—reading, writing, and math—rather than prioritizing critical theory, radical sex education, and divisive ideologies. But those concerns have been dismissed, mocked, or outright silenced,” said Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a group designated as an anti-LGBTQ+ extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Parents, now is the time to expose the betrayal happening in our public schools. This platform proves that President Trump’s Department of Education is shifting power back to parents,” Justice continued.
Ironically, the same organization that has long championed local control of education is now actively assisting the federal government in exerting greater oversight.
Opponents of the initiative condemned the move, alarmed by the idea of students and teachers being encouraged to anonymously report one another for not conforming to Trump’s ideological agenda.
“I believe Hitler had a program like this,” remarked Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media.
Gabe Ortíz, an editor at America’s Voice who covers immigration and LGBTQ+ issues, criticized the move, tweeting: “Trump’s Education Department has launched a tip line to report diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in public schools.”
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, added: “Trump’s extremist push to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools is backed by Moms for Liberty—the same group that approvingly quoted Hitler and has deep ties to violent organizations like the Proud Boys.”
In 2023, a chapter chair of Indiana’s Moms for Liberty, Paige Miller, drew widespread condemnation after quoting Hitler on the cover of the group’s newsletter, The Parent Brigade. The newsletter’s headline chillingly read: “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future.”
Justice defended Miller’s use of the quote, doubling down with: “I stand with that mom!”
The DOE’s latest initiative comes as the administration expands its scrutiny of DEI programs and schools that fail to align with its stance on gender identity.
The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights has opened investigations into school districts in California and Minnesota. Meanwhile, Maine is under scrutiny from both the DOE and the Department of Agriculture, after receiving a warning letter from Department of Justice official Pam Bondi.
Additional DOE probes are targeting San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) over incidents involving transgender athletes competing under regulations established during the Biden administration.
