A Philly group that wants to get more Black teachers in classrooms is fighting the Trump administration’s DEI crackdown efforts

Federal judges late last week halted — for now — efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to block diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools.

Among the organizations that sued to stop the DEI crackdown was the Philadelphia-based Center for Black Educator Development, founded and run by Sharif El-Mekki. El-Mekki has spent his career teaching and leading in city schools, and has risen to national prominence for his work in diversifying the teacher pipeline.

The U.S. Department of Education this month said schools could not receive federal funding unless they ended DEI programs and classroom teaching that might be perceived by the administration as discriminatory. It did not outline specifics as to what constituted such practices.

The order moving forward would dismantle the core work of the center, El-Mekki said, which is to provide “all students with access to high-quality education that improves their conditions and learning outcomes, and to rebuild the declining national Black teacher pipeline. A lack of diversity in our classrooms impacts all of us, and now we’re being attacked for actually trying to create a just educational environment for all."

The center joined the National Education Association in the suit, which was filed in federal court in New Hampshire and is being argued by the American Civil Liberties Union.

El-Mekki grew up in West Philadelphia and graduated from Overbrook High and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied criminal justice. After surviving a gunshot sustained while playing a pickup football game in the city, El-Mekki shifted his career aspirations.

He began working with young people like his shooter, who lacked opportunities and struggled with anger issues. He became a counselor, then got a teaching degree, working as a teacher and principal at Turner Middle School, Shaw Middle School, and, finally, Mastery Charter School-Shoemaker. He was chosen as a U.S. Department of Education principal fellow and won multiple national honors for his work.

In 2014, El-Mekki created a group focused on getting Black men into the teaching force; by 2019, it evolved into the Center for Black Educator Development.

The center offers summer programs that serve as training grounds for teachers of color. It runs an annual national conference in Philadelphia that draws educators from around the country. It has built a year-round career and technical education course for Black students interested in teaching; it offers a fellowship for would-be diverse teachers.

Research shows that the work matters; having a diverse teaching force benefits all students.

Forty percent of all U.S. schools have no Black teachers at all; most Black students across the country will go through 13 years of school without a single Black teacher.

Black students who have a single Black teacher in the early grades are 13% more likely to graduate from high school and 19% more likely to attend college. Having two Black teachers makes it 32% more likely they will attend college.

In Philadelphia, nearly half of all students are Black, but fewer than a quarter of teachers are Black.

Amid an ongoing national teacher shortage, “it is critical to recruit, support and retain as many qualified teachers as possible to ensure the successful functioning of our public education system,” El-Mekki wrote in a March legal filing attempting to block the U.S. Education Department order on DEI.

Efforts to block building a robust, diverse teacher pipeline would be harmful to all students, El-Mekki argued.

Black teachers often face tougher working conditions, he said: “Black individuals who do become teachers face tougher working conditions and leave the profession at higher rates than their white peers. Some of the reasons for this include the fact that Black teachers are often tasked with handling the bulk of student disciplinary challenges and are often expected, whether formally or informally, to be spokespeople and trainers of colleagues in instructional practice that meet students’ needs.”

Teachers who are not Black often do not receive instruction on how to teach Black students in an effective and culturally responsive way.

But the center and other groups that work in this space have been hamstrung by the Trump administration’s anti-DEI crusade, El-Mekki said, “by calling into question the legality of our programs through vague and overly broad conceptions of illegal DEI work.” Core services are affected, El-Mekki said.

The center’s programs “do not discriminate on the basis of race and are open to all aspiring and current educators,” but “do invoke concepts that relate to ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ and ‘inclusion.’ This has never been considered illegal discrimination. Our focus on Black pedagogy and the importance of Black teachers, and discussion of topics like cultural proficiency, anti-racism, implicit bias, cultural identity, microaggressions, equity, and bias … are intended to redress or prevent discrimination,” El-Mekki wrote. “Yet the department now casts doubt on any effort to acknowledge racial issues plaguing our education system, and threatens punishment to districts who partner with those who attempt to bring awareness of these issues, like our organization.”

The administration’s order is an “existential threat” to the center, but also threaten to deepen the teacher shortage, the suit says.

“Based on our experience and research, there is a significant risk that potential teachers will seek other opportunities where they will not fear reprisal, scrutiny or harassment for discussing their own culture or history or for practicing cultural sensitivity,” El-Mekki said.

States are handling the federal order differently.

In Pennsylvania, acting Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told districts they do not need to change any DEI practices.

A federal judge in a New Hampshire district court issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the center and the NEA. It is not the end of the road for the case, heard by Judge Landya McCafferty, but her order effectively stops the administration from cutting funding over DEI initiatives from any school that employs or has a contract with the center or NEA members.