The Trump administration on Tuesday threatened to withhold federal funds from public schools in Chicago over a program designed to help black students accelerate the White House attack on liberal policies in education.
The investigation, supervised by the Department of Education's Civil Rights Office, is based on complaints from parents, a conservative Virginia-based group that argued that the Chicago program's success plan for Black Students was equivalent to racism. The district “makes this racially segregated program even worse as students of all races and ethnicities fail,” according to the complaint.
A school district spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A news release from the district said the plan was part of our commitment to eliminate the “gap in educational opportunities” and ensuring the support Black students need to achieve academic success and personal growth. It includes “implementing culturally responsive practices and guidance, ensuring equitable resource allocation, increasing recruitment and retention of Black educators and leaders, and promoting meaningful engagement with Black students and families.”
The Trump administration has significantly reduced the number of civil rights investigators in the education sector, but has increased the number of inquiries to programs where administration officials unfairly support students based on race and grant special considerations to transgender students.
One study targeted Denver's public school system through school gender-neutral bathrooms. The survey of the Ithaca, New York School District focuses on the annual “Color United Summit,” in which a conservative group known as the Equality Protection Project discriminated against white students.
The Education Department has also launched an investigation into the entire California and Maine public school systems. The California survey concerns state laws that protect transgender students from disclosure to their parents. The Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funds from Maine. Because the state ignored President Trump's executive order, except for trans athletes who were born into women's sports.
