{"id":11849,"date":"2026-06-03T16:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11849"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:32:10","slug":"trumps-education-department-is-backing-away-from-addressing-civil-rights-for-black-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11849","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Education Department is backing away from addressing civil rights for Black students"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ANNIE MA, AP Education Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 For generations, the federal government enforced civil rights laws with an eye toward remedying historic, systemic discrimination against Black people and other people of color. The Justice Department pressed schools to desegregate. The Education Department worked to promote equal opportunity and held schools accountable for racial bias.<\/p>

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But under the Trump administration, efforts to address deep-rooted inequities for students of color are being cast as discriminatory against white students. Programs that have long withstood legal scrutiny are now quick to be deemed \u201c illegal DEI \u201d \u2014 diversity, equity and inclusion \u2014 by the White House. Schools that do not comply have faced threats to their funding, and in some cases, lost federal grants.<\/p>\n

Civil rights attorneys describe the administration\u2019s actions as a complete inversion of legal history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s literally flipping the purpose of civil rights law on its head, not just harming Black students and students of color, but entire school communities,\u201d said Michael Pillera, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. \u201cIt\u2019s unmoored from the actual history of our country and untethered to the reality of life in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. government has opened investigations or joined litigation over a wide range of efforts to address racial inequality. The Justice Department is investigating programs to increase the number of teachers of color in Rhode Island and Iowa. And grants to districts to train teachers or recruit school mental health workers have been discontinued for mentions of diversity in recruitment.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Education Department said programs receiving federal funding must follow the law, which prohibits discrimination based on race.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing student needs and following the law are not irreconcilable mandates. Advocates and educators have no reason to stress if they abide by the law,\u201d said Amelia Joy, a department spokesperson.<\/p>

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The Trump administration investigated Chicago Public Schools and withheld more than $20 million when the district refused to end its Black Student Success Program, which aims to increase access to advanced coursework for Black students and reduce overly harsh discipline.<\/p>\n

Complaints against programs to address inequities find new traction<\/h4>\n

A similar effort to close racial achievement gaps in Los Angeles is under the same pressure.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Unified School District created the Black Student Achievement Plan after an outpouring of student activism following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. It supports schools with extra teachers, counselors and curriculum in Black history.<\/p>\n

Initially, the district chose schools partially based on the number of Black students enrolled. In 2023, Defending Education, a Virginia-based conservative group, filed a complaint to the Education Department, alleging discrimination against non-Black students. The district said it would no longer consider Black enrollment and instead focus solely on metrics like high absenteeism and low test scores, emphasizing that all students could take part.<\/p>

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After the changes, the Education Department in 2024 said it saw no evidence of a violation. But when Defending Education filed its complaint again this year, the department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation.<\/p>\n

Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at Defending Education, said it refiled the complaint after district leaders were recorded saying the program had not materially changed, despite the new criteria.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is not to make LA Unified a target, but rather to make sure that when people say that they are eliminating racially discriminatory aspects of programs, that they\u2019re actually making good on their word,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, LAUSD said its programs are aligned with state and federal laws and are open to all students.<\/p>\n