Education
CPS Stands by Black Student Success Plan, Transgender Supports as Trump Administration Withholds Millions in Funding
(WTTW News)
Chicago Public Schools’ interim leader affirmed she will not do away with the district’s Black Student Success Plan or policies protecting transgender students after the Trump administration confirmed it will eliminate millions in funding for the district.
Interim CPS CEO Macquline King on Thursday stood by the district’s commitment to its existing policies after the Department of Education threatened to withhold the district’s Magnet Schools Assistance Program and other grants, claiming the Black Student Success Plan and transgender protections are discriminatory.
“CPS will not back away from our commitment to Black, transgender or any other student groups,” King said at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. “We will continue to consider diversity among our district’s greatest strengths and will move forward with uplifting and protecting the rights of all students.”
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights last week demanded CPS eliminate those plans and policies by Tuesday in order to still receive the grant funding. But the department has confirmed CPS — as well as New York City Public Schools and Fairfax County Public Schools — failed to meet that deadline and will lose the federal funds.
For CPS, that means the department will withhold approximately $5.8 million in magnet school grant funding for the next year and around $17.5 million over the remaining duration of the grants.
“The Department will not rubber-stamp civil rights compliance for New York, Chicago, and Fairfax while they blatantly discriminate against students based on race and sex,” Department of Education spokesperson Julie Hartman said in a statement. “If these entities are willing to risk federal funding to continue their illegal activity, that decision falls squarely on them.”
The decision comes weeks after the board approved the district’s $10.2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year following contentious debate among members over how to close a $734 million funding gap.
The district’s 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.
Federal officials also demanded CPS reverse course and only allow students to participate in sports or access “intimate facilities” like locker rooms based on their biological sex at birth, rather than their gender identity.
King on Thursday reiterated that those district policies do not violate any federal laws and called the Department of Education’s decision “deeply disappointing.” She said CPS is exploring all funding options to fill that funding gap.
“For now,” King said, “what I can tell you is that our district will not back away from doing what we know is right.”
