When the U.S. Department of Education threatened to strip Palm Beach County schools of $300 million if the district did not ditch certain anti-discrimination policies, the thug-like message was clear.

Think like we tell you to think, and nobody gets hurt.

Of course, when discrimination is allowed to thrive in schools, children get hurt.

The Florida Department of Education sent along the federal message to all school districts, giving them only days to confirm they were complying with Trump administration views on diversity, race and the scapegoat du jour, DEI.

The dreaded Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy is simply shorthand for a framework to affirmatively counter discrimination. People can debate whether school districts take it too far or whether it is applied fairly, but it is an attempt to do the right thing for all children and for the right reasons.

What did Broward do?

Broward’s school district got the same message as Palm Beach, and Broward changed nothing .

Palm Beach revised or added 10 policies in an emergency vote. As explained by Superintendent Michael Burke, the existing policies could be viewed as “in misalignment” with new federal interpretations on discrimination.

Those new federal interpretations are barely 100 days old and have been marked by nonstop bullying, including threats to withhold millions in federal funds from Columbia University, which caved to administration demands, and billions from Harvard, which did not .

Locally, there is no new federal interpretation of a policy allowing students to ask for a transfer to a school where they would be in the minority. There has been no new study confirming area vendors are being frozen out, or that Palm Beach County teachers are being treated unfairly because of anti-discrimination efforts.

Diversity is a dirty word

There’s also been no clamor in the past 100 days over a policy suggesting that the school board consider diversity when nominating audit committee members.

It’s not a requirement for diversity — just a request that it be considered. But that’s out, too. In a school district where more than six of every 10 students are Latino, Hispanic or Black, and in a county where minorities are close to becoming a majority, the mere suggestion of diversity is apparently too risky to put into writing.

The scrubbing orders come from Linda McMahon , the wrestling CEO-turned-Education secretary, who, in her confirmation hearing, could not say whether schools would lose federal support if they teach Black history .

The bad faith behind her threat against schools is laid bare by what it did not suggest.

There are multiple options for examining whether a school district’s anti-discrimination policies run afoul of the Civil Rights Act, which ties federal funding to banning discrimination, or a 2023 Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action in college admissions.

The first is determining whether the district’s anti-discrimination policies work for all students or whether they unfairly shut out groups of children.

Efforts could be made to determine whether staff has been denied jobs or promotions or whether vendors were denied opportunities. After all, if the district does not clearly identify a policy problem, then it cannot fix it.

But fixing problems is of no interest to Washington. The hard work of solving thorny issues does not provide the adrenaline jolt of outrage that fuels this administration.

That’s why the districts were given mere days to fall in line, not the months needed, with resources, to thoughtfully address problems that might be found.

If there’s no problem, the district needs to determine that, too, because the assault on education won’t end here.

Last year, the targeted K-12 controversy was school policies about trans children , and what rights those children were entitled to. This year, its whether minority children have too many privileges.

For a glimpse at what else the Trump administration might have in mind for education, consider Columbia University.

On bended knee

The administration threatened to withhold $400 million from the school under the guise of enforcing civil rights laws and student protection.

But protecting student civil rights doesn’t explain why the administration forced Columbia’s Middle East, South Asian and African studies departments into receivership for five years, to be overseen by someone outside of the university.

Columbia could not bend the knee fast enough.

Neither could the Palm Beach County School Board. It’s understandable that the district wants to avoid the body blow of losing $300 million. But the multiple emergency policy changes required multiple separate votes by the board, and just one board member, Edwin Ferguson, spoke in protest .

The rest sat in silence.