On September 10, 2026, Defending Education filed a complaint against Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. OUSD discriminates against students on the basis of race and sex, in violation of three laws: Title VI, which bans race discrimination; Title IX, which bans sex discrimination; and the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which requires the government treat people equally. Since OUSD receives millions in federal funding each year, it must obey these laws. Yet it continues to run programs that turn away students because of their race and sex.
For ten years, OUSD has offered race-based programs to students ranging from high school seniors to three-year-old preschoolers. These programs give extra academic support, mentoring, and even cash payments — but only to students of a certain race and sex.
Among the worst examples is the district’s “Latino Men and Boys” program. The program gives tutoring, mentoring, health support, and cash payments exclusively to Latino boys. A similar program, “Latinx Mentoring and Achievement,” gave $430,000 to support “female-identified youth and non-binary youth” with Latin American roots. It also helped Latino students and their families get food, housing, and access to health care.
By handing out benefits based on race and sex, these programs illegally shut other students out. Under the Constitution, the government may sort people by race only in a few rare situations, and OUSD’s programs do not qualify.
Defending Education has asked that the Department investigate all claims in its complaint, fix the district’s illegal policies and practices, and order the right remedies.
Read the full complaint below:
