Education

US Education Department Investigating CPS Black Student Success Plan Over Discrimination Allegations

The Trump administration has launched another investigation into Chicago Public Schools, this time targeting its newly-created Black Students Success Plan, claiming it discriminates against students based on their race.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights announced Tuesday it is investigating CPS amid allegations that the district has violated Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, months after the school district unveiled its new plan that seeks to address “long-standing racial inequities in education.”

“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,” acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement. “Rather than address its record honestly, CPS seeks to allocate additional resources to favored students on the basis of race. 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.”

The investigation comes after the conservative advocacy group Parents Defending Education called the plan discriminatory and filed a civil rights complaint through the Department of Education the day after CPS launched the initiative in February.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has targeted CPS this year.

Last month, the Office of Civil Rights launched a separate investigation into the district, the state Board of Education and Deerfield Public Schools over policies enacted to ensure safe and welcoming school environments for transgender students.

The Black Student Success Plan aims to bring in more Black teachers, reduce suspensions against Black students, promote teaching on Black culture, increase belonging and close opportunity gaps. It provides a five-year roadmap to improve the outcomes of Black students, who make up a third of the district’s population.

The plan set out to implement culturally-responsive practices and instruction throughout CPS, ensuring what the district said would be equitable resource allocation while also fostering meaningful engagement with Black students and families.

While CPS has said it made recent progress in advancing educational equity, Black students in the city “continue to suffer from historic and persistent gaps in educational opportunities and outcomes.”

“The District is committed to removing these obstacles and calls upon the community to support efforts to better serve Black students,” CPS Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova said in February. “Together, we can create an inclusive educational environment where all students have the opportunity to thrive.”

CPS declined to comment Wednesday, saying it does not speak on pending or ongoing investigations.

But the district said the Black Student Success Plan is mandated by state law after the General Assembly tasked CPS with establishing a baseline for Black student achievement and “to bring about academic parity between Black children and their peers.”

The Trump administration has sought to crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion across education, but a federal judge last week halted those efforts.

A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked a series of directives from the Education Department, including a memo ordering an end to any practice that differentiates people based on their race, and another asking for assurances that schools don’t use DEI practices deemed discriminatory.

Judges in Maryland and Washington, D.C., also halted portions of the department’s anti-DEI efforts.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates called the latest investigation into CPS “yet another attempt to hinder the progress we are striving to achieve.”

“In response to the administration’s misguided priorities, we are proud to stand with our most vulnerable students and support our classrooms,” she said in a statement. “We expect CPS to stand up against this baseless investigation — and we call on our city and state leaders to take real action to protect our students and schools. The White House is making its intent clear: to dismantle public education and bully the children who attend our schools.”

Bridgette Adu-Wadier and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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