The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into Chicago Public Schools over allegations that programs aimed at improving academic outcomes among black students violate federal law.
The department also warns that federal funds can be withheld from the district.
The investigation released Tuesday is attributed to complaints filed by parents defending education, a conservative group based in Virginia, supervised by the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office.
The complaint targets the district’s black student success plan, claiming that the Trump administration “discriminates against students based on race” that it alleges is in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
In the complaint, the group argues that the district is “making this racially segregated program even worse because students of all races and ethnicities are failing.”
Chicago’s public schools described the plan for success for black students in a February news release, which released a news release in February, as part of their commitment to eliminating gaps in educational opportunities and ensuring the support Black students need to achieve academic success and personal growth.
Plans to launch this spring include “implementing culturally responding practices and guidance, ensuring equitable resource allocation, increasing recruitment and retention of Black educators and leaders, and developing meaningful engagement with Black students and families.
Bogdana Chkoumbova, Chief Education Officer at Chicago Public Schools, said at the time that the district is “committed to remove these obstacles and calling on the community to support its efforts to cater to Black students,” adding “Together, we can create an inclusive educational environment where all students have the opportunity to be present.”
According to NBC News, this is the first time the Department of Education has investigated the Chicago School District since Trump re-inaugurated in January and then re-inaugurated in January.
In a statement released Tuesday, Craig, the vice-secretary of civil rights, said Chicago public schools “have a record of academic failure, leaving students of all backgrounds and races struggling and unprepared to enjoy the rewards of modern American life.”
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The trainers argued that the success plan for black students would “try to allocate additional resources to their favorite students based on race.”
“The Trump Mcmahon Department of Education will not allow federal funds provided for the benefit of all students to be used in this harmful and illegal manner,” the trainer added.
In response to this week’s survey announcement, Chicago Teachers Union Chairman Stacey Davis Gates called it an “attempt to stifle the progress we are trying to achieve.”
“As opposed to using faculties to create opportunities for students, Trump and McMahon seem determined to turn civil rights protections that support students and their families into debt collection agencies and instruments,” added Davis Gates.
