Education Department Investigating New York School District Ban on Native American Mascot

The state’s ‘patronizing attitude’ toward the Native American community should end, said Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 3, 2025. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has launched a probe into Connetquot Central School District on Long Island, New York, for allegedly “working to erase its Native American mascot and imagery, the Thunderbirds,” the agency said in a July 8 statement.

During the investigation, the ED’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will look at whether the school district violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the department said. Title VI prohibits programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin.

In May, the OCR determined that a policy from the New York State Board of Regents targeting Massapequa High School’s mascot, the Chiefs, including the logo, violated Title VI, the ED said in a May 30 statement.

The Board of Regents is responsible for supervising all educational activities in New York and presides over the state’s education department.

Despite the OCR judgment, Connetquot Central School District “is actively taking steps to erase its Native American mascot and imagery to comply with a state regulation that violates federal civil rights law,” the ED said in the July 8 statement.

According to the department, the erasure of Native American imagery is a reversal of the school district’s previous stance, which had opposed the state ban.

“During my recent visit to New York, many individuals in the Native American community expressed deep pride in their heritage and local mascots,“ said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. ”Images like the Thunderbirds and Chiefs are seen as symbols of strength, honor, and identity—not of disrespect.”

She added that the department will continue supporting the Native American community and make sure their heritage has equal protection under law.

“The Department of Education has been clear with the state of New York: it is neither legal nor right to prohibit Native American mascots and logos while celebrating European and other cultural imagery in schools. New York’s patronizing attitude toward Native Americans must end,” she said.

The ED’s investigation follows the Native American Guardians Association’s filing a complaint about the issue with the OCR.

The Epoch Times reached out to Connetquot Central School District for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

The OCR noted that while the Board of Regents blocked names, mascots, or logos having a Native American origin across the state, it allowed such symbols from other ethnic and racial groups, such as “Huguenots” and the “Dutchmen,” according to the ED’s May 30 statement.

Crackdown on Title VI Violations

The Connetquot Central School District is one among many school districts against which the ED has launched Title VI violation investigations.

On May 22, the department said it was probing the Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, for revising an admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in 2020 “because it was dissatisfied with the racial composition of the school.”

The school “dropped its standardized testing requirements and began using a revised holistic review process, instead of a meritocratic process, to achieve racial balancing,” the department said.

Earlier on May 1, ED announced an investigation into Evanston-Skokie School District 65 in Chicago for alleged Title VI violations.

The probe was based on a complaint by a teacher who accused the district of engaging in “racial segregation and stereotyping through such policies and practices as ‘privilege walks’ and District-sponsored segregated affinity groups,” according to the Education Department.