Education Department Probes Chicago Schools Over Alleged Rights Violation

The allegation states district officials knew Hispanics were the furthest behind in reading yet limited a remedial learning program to black students.

Parents pick up their children from school in Chicago, Ill., on March 1, 2021. Scott Olson/Getty Images

An affinity group for black students in the Chicago Public Schools violates Civil Rights law and could cost that district millions in federal funding if the program continues, the Department of Education announced this week.

The federal agency’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation following a complaint filed this year by the Parents Defending Education organization, which has since changed its name to Defending Education.

It alleged that the district’s “Black Students Success Plan” violates Title VI of the 1964 federal law because it addresses remedial education methods for one race of students, even though there are students of many races in CPS who struggle academically.

“Chicago Public Schools have a record of academic failure, leaving students from all backgrounds and races struggling and ill-prepared to meet the challenges and enjoy the rewards of contemporary American life,” Craig Trainor, Department of Education acting secretary for Civil Rights, said in an April 29 news release.

“The Trump-McMahon Department of Education will not allow federal funds, provided for the benefit of all students, to be used in this pernicious and unlawful manner.”

Chicago Public Schools received $1.7 billion in federal aid last year, according to the district’s 2024 budget.

Evan Moore, Chicago Public Schools spokesman, said in an email response to The Epoch Times that his district cannot comment on pending investigations.

However, he did point out that the district’s Black Student Success Plan was codified in Illinois state law in 2021 and incorporated into its five-year strategic plan this year.

The Black Student Success Plan is focused on closing outcome gaps for black students in the district.

A working group of senior district leaders worked on this initiative over a dozen-plus meetings, as well as community roundtables between December 2023 and April 2024, according to a department news release.

A slideshow presentation at the kickoff meeting indicated that the program’s mission was only focused on black students. The presentation also acknowledged that students of all races were struggling academically.

The department’s news release said Hispanic students were performing the worst in reading compared to all other races, with only 5 percent of them at or above grade level compared to 6 percent of black students.

Defending Education founder and President Nicole Neily said that Chicago Public Schools, which is struggling both financially and in student achievement, is wrong to allocate finite resources to students of a certain race.

“The evidence clearly shows that CPS is failing at its basic task of educating all students. Yet rather than addressing this problem, district leaders chose to create a racial spoils system,” she said in an email to The Epoch Times.