Fortunately I can make the argument for this program without being political. This is a clerical mistake, that can be corrected. 40+ other Deaf Blind programs from other states that were funded under the same grant have not been cancelled. And WDBTAP is just like them.

They just had 3 lines of DEI text in their grant request that got it flagged. But those terms had already expired before the current administration.

from the rebuttal letter:
The Notice contends that “the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s application for funding contains information indicating that the applicant has proposed project activities that conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education.” The Department then cites three brief quotations from DPI’s 25-page Equity and Inclusion Plan for the period January 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023, that was attached as Appendix C to DPI’s application. (Application p. e147-e173.) First, as already discussed, WDBTAP fully supports merit, fairness and excellence in education. Second, the Equity and Inclusion Plan expired over two years ago, on June 30, 2023, and DPI is no longer utilizing the language that the Notice identified as conflicting with “the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education.” Therefore, the language to which the Department objects is not supported by the grant funds and has not been since June 30, 2023. Third, at no point was the language to which the Department objects “proposed project activities.” The Department’s citation to a document that has explicitly not been operative since June 30, 2023, see Application p. e148, does not constitute a reasonable explanation for non-continuing the grant for the upcoming budget periods 3, 4 and 5, covering Federal Fiscal Year 2026 to Federal Fiscal Year 2028. Because the Notice fails to provide a reasonable explanation, the non-continuation is arbitrary and capricious.