Letters to the Editor: De-fund California schools over DEI? Then we’ll de-fund the federal government

To the editor: It is time for California’s elected leaders to have a serious discussion about how Californians can withhold our federal tax dollars. (“How California schools, colleges are responding to Trump’s DEI crackdown,” Feb. 25)

Enough is enough. When Democrats were in office, they didn’t cut off money to Florida and other red states that banned certain books in schools or banned abortion. How dare the Trump administration threaten to cut funds to our public schools because we recognize that curriculum and policies that recognize and teach about the diverse communities in our state are important?

When we went to college in the late 1970s and ‘80s, there were hard-fought struggles to create women’s studies, African American studies and other programs recognizing that the history of the world is not just about white men.

Individual California taxpayers send more than $230 billion to the federal government, about 15% of the national total. We pay for the services provided to less wealthy red states that would be happy to have us punished for our values. Enough is enough.

Leslie Simon and Marc Bender, Woodland Hills