Burbio School Tracker 8/5: Marked Decline

1. Last week the U.S. Department of Justice issued guidance related to discrimination and the use of Federal funds. The document's press release notes, "In particular, it clarifies that federal anti-discrimination laws apply to programs or initiatives that involve discriminatory practices, including those labeled as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) programs . . . "
 
This is part of a Federal campaign targeting DEI programs and terminology that includes K-12. In April the Department of Education required districts to sign a certification letter warning about the use of DEI programs, a requirement that was suspended through a series of legal actions.

The terms related to DEI are widely used in K-12, and appear in job titles, district mission statements, academic courses, district committees, and more. In the second quarter, our data shows a marked decline in the use of the terms diversity, equity, and DEI. The chart below shows the percent of district board meetings that used the terms at least once in the quarter:

On an additional note, the Presidential Executive Order signed late last month "Preventing Woke AI In the Federal Government", does not mention mention K-12 specifically but may impact federally funded AI tools in education as it's likely to be adopted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

2. Burbio has introduced a State Information dashboard that includes information such as state board meetings, budgets, Title I funds, enrollment trends, lists of TSI/CSI schools, and state report card information. For State Board of Education meetings we are rolling out summaries by targeted academic areas for easy access by clients. Some recent highlights from state board meetings include: 

• Maryland published revisions to their College and Career Readiness Standards in Mathematics.
• In Texas, new TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) were adopted for Engineering, introducing new courses focusing on engineering ethics and the use of computational tools, among others.
• In New York, a proposed amendment will "require all New York State teacher preparation programs to provide instruction in culturally responsive-sustaining education (CR-SE) practices and pedagogy . . .  "

3. Burbio maintains a database of district checkbook registers covering over 20 million PreK-12 students. Information is searchable to the district level, and clients use the data for competitive intelligence and market analysis. Given the rapidly changing landscape of AI-driven services in education, this monitoring tool can also be used for suppliers of all sizes to identify district adoption patterns. Below is a list of suppliers of various sizes, along with the percentage of districts that made at least one payment to each supplier during the twelve months ending May 31st:

4. Burbio's Signals Tracker scores the stage of district purchase intent and provides an AI summary of the discussion points, with links to the documents for further investigation. This tool can be used for highly specific purchase areas; below are some recent examples for playground construction in a variety of stages: 

• Putnam Valley Central School District, NY adopted a resolution to spend over $13 million on a variety of facility upgrades, including an additional playground area for an elementary school. 
• In SAU 39, Amherst, NH, the Wilkins Playground has been deemed unsafe, and they are finalizing a plan on a short timeline that includes repairs or replacement. 
• Oswego Valley School District, PA is submitting a request to their local education foundation for just over $66,000 to replace playground equipment.
• Waunakee Community School District, WI is reviewing changes to outdoor facilities at a middle school scheduled to open in the Fall of 2026.
• Chula Vista Elementary School District, CA has awarded a $1.2 million contract for a variety of playground renovations in the district.