On October 17, 2025, Defending Education (DE) filed a complaint against Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. DE claims MPS is breaking Title VI, a law that bans race discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. DE also claims MPS is violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which bars government bodies, including public schools, from treating people differently because of their race. MPS receives federal money, so it must obey these laws.
MPS is the third-largest school district in Minnesota, with more than 30,000 students. At four of its high schools (South, Edison, North, and Roosevelt), it offers courses called “BLACK Culture – Building Lives Acquiring Cultural Knowledge.” The “BLACK Culture: Kings” course is “open only to black male students,” and the “BLACK Culture: Queens” course is only for Black female students. These classes count toward students’ elective requirements for graduation. Students of other races are shut out, so they have fewer classes to choose from.
MPS has forgotten the Supreme Court’s lesson in Brown v. Board of Education (1954): segregation in schools is unconstitutional.
Defending Education urges the Department to investigate every claim in its complaint, fix MPS’s illegal policies and practices, and order the right remedies.
Read the full complaint below:
