As Chicago Public Schools on Friday celebrated the launch of a plan intended to improve academic outcomes for Black students, a national group filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education to try to stymie it, charging that the plan is discriminatory.
It comes as President Donald Trump’s Department of Education is threatening to withhold federal funding for any school district or university that targets extra support or programming for a particular group of students. Late Friday, a federal judge largely blocked Trump’s first executive orders related to this effort — orders that try to end government contracts for programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, according to the Associated Press.
The complaint, first reported by Chalkbeat Chicago, could result in a major showdown between the school district, the city and President Donald Trump’s education department. The school district issued a statement saying it is reviewing the complaint and pointing to its weekly newsletter where CPS CEO Pedro Martinez pledges to “stay true to our values and our mission — to provide all students with a rigorous, joyful, and equitable daily learning experience that affirms and celebrates their identities.”
It is unlikely that Mayor Brandon Johnson, school district leaders or others will back down given their deep commitment to equity. About 16% or $1.3 billion of CPS’ revenue comes from the federal government.
The complaint was filed by a national group called Parents Defending Education, which has challenged race-based initiatives for years. It notes in the complaint against CPS that its actions led the Los Angeles Unified School District to change its Black Student Achievement Plan. LAUSD agreed to drop race as an official factor in deciding which students get extra educational services, according to the complaint.
The complaint with the department’s Office of Civil Rights says CPS’ Black Student Success Plan violates recent guidance from the education department. That guidance said school districts cannot offer any program or activity that “treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race.”
The complaint argues that test scores show other races and ethnicities also have students below grade level and therefore it says: “CPS is failing students of all races and ethnicities, which makes this racially segregated program all the more egregious.”
Beyond that, the complaint urges that the Department of Education conducts a “full and complete audit of CPS.” That is prompted, the group writes in the complaint, because the plan calls on the district to “acknowledge and address historical and present-day harm experienced by Black students and families in Chicago.”
The plan is the result of two years of work by community activists, educators and school board members, frustrated that Black students lag behind others on several academic measures and are more likely to be suspended and drop out of school.
It calls for closing the opportunity gap, doubling the number of Black male teachers, improving Black teacher retention and reducing the number of out-of-school suspensions for Black students.
Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Follow her on X @WBEZeducation and @sskedreporter.