On May 28, 2026, Defending Education (DE) and Do No Harm, a national group of health care professionals and others, filed a joint complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The complaint targets the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, claiming that both agencies discriminate based on race. This violates Title VI, a law banning race discrimination in programs that get federal funds. It also violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which requires the government to treat people equally. Both agencies get federal money, so they must obey these laws.
Oregon’s Department of Education runs a $4.3 million Charter School Equity Grant. To get the grant, at least 65% of a charter school’s students must be disabled or belong to certain racial groups: American Indian, Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or multiracial. This is a racial enrollment quota.
The Commission controls Oregon’s $1.07 billion fund for public universities. About half of that money depends on how many students each university graduates. Universities earn “bonus” money for graduates from certain groups, including students of every race except White and Asian. Multiracial students count too, unless one parent is White and the other is Asian.
Under the Constitution, the government may sort people by race only in a few rare cases, such as correcting a specific act of past discrimination. Oregon points to no such cases. Both programs use race to decide who gets taxpayer money. That goes against the Constitution and breaks federal civil rights law.
Defending Education and Do No Harm urge the Department to investigate every claim in their complaint and fix Oregon’s illegal policies and practices.
Read the full complaint below:
