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The Trump administration opened an investigation Tuesday into Chicago Public Schools, alleging race-based discrimination related to the district’s recently released Black Student Success Plan.
That long-awaited plan was unveiled in February and challenged the following day by Virginia-based conservative group Parents Defending Education, which filed a similar complaint against a Los Angeles Unified School District initiative.
The group alleges that the CPS plan violates Title VI, a provision of federal civil rights law that bars discrimination on the basis of race or shared ancestry.
In a statement Tuesday, U.S. Department of Education Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said CPS has 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.”
Trainor said that the CPS plan “seeks to allocate additional resources to favored students on the basis of race” and that the department would not allow federal funds to be used “in this pernicious and unlawful manner.”
A CPS spokesperson said Tuesday the district will not comment on pending or ongoing investigations.
The investigation is the second launched against CPS since the start of the second Trump administration. In March, the education department opened an investigation into CPS, the state of Illinois, and suburban Deerfield Public School District 109 for alleged violations of the Title IX, federal law that prohibits sex discrimination.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said earlier this month he would sue the federal government if it withheld funding from schools over diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
The CPS plan to support Black students, which the district began working on in the fall of 2023, sets goals to increase the number of Black teachers, reduce Black student suspensions, provide more professional development for all educators, and ensure that Black history is taught in more classrooms, among other steps.
The Trump administration has sought to use its contested interpretation of Title VI to clamp down on schools’ diversity, equity, and inclusion work. Last month, the education department asked states to certify they were in compliance with the law under threat of losing federal funding.
Illinois State Superintendent Tony Sanders wrote a letter in response to that demand saying the state already complies with the law. He challenged the department’s authority to change the “terms and conditions” of federal funding streams “without formal administrative process.”
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction last week putting on hold the Trump administration’s efforts to use its civil rights authority to go after DEI efforts. The judge’s action came in response to the American Civil Liberties Union filing a lawsuit on behalf of the National Education Association. Eighteen states have also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s push.
Illinois law, signed in 2023, required the Chicago Board of Education to create a Black Student Achievement and develop a plan to “bring about academic parity between Black children and their peers.” The school board formed a committee last week to work on enacting the plan.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
