UPDATE: On September 17, 2025, after months of investigation, the U.S. Department of Education told Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that its “Black Student Success Plan” discriminates against students of other races and violates Title VI. The Department demanded that CPS end the plan. CPS says the plan is legal because Illinois state law requires it. But when state and federal law conflict, federal law wins.
Defending Education’s Vice President and Legal Fellow, Sarah Parshall Perry, said:
“Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment aren’t suggestions–they’re mandates. And they require that all Americans be treated equally in government programs, no matter their race, ethnicity, or national origin. Chicago Public Schools don’t seem to be getting that message. Defending Education has found rampant violations of the Supreme Court’s demand for race neutrality in education following its watershed Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision, and CPS is among those myriad offenders. What’s worse, the CPS lawyers are apparently unaware of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which ensures that when state and federal laws conflict, federal law prevails. That crucial framework secures a cohesive legal scheme across the country and allows federal law to displace state law in areas where Congress intends–as it did with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act–to assert unitary authority. We look forward to speedy resolution of the Department’s investigation into CPS, and a return to education administration in Chicago that is dedicated to the success of all students, not just some.”
On April 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into this complaint. See the letter here.
On February 21, 2025, Parents Defending Education filed a complaint against Chicago Public Schools with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The complaint claims CPS is breaking Title VI, a law that bans race discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. It also claims CPS is violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which bars government bodies, including public schools, from treating people differently because of their race except in rare cases.
CPS’s top leaders spent months building a “Black Student Success Plan” to “close opportunity gaps for Black students.” But CPS’s own data shows students of other races are struggling too. Only 6% of Black students read at mid-grade level or above, but just 5% of Hispanic students do. The plan has at least two dedicated staff members, even as CPS faces a $9.9 billion deficit.
Defending Education urges the Department to investigate every claim in its complaint and fix CPS’s illegal policies and practices. Because CPS itself admits to doing “present-day harm” to students, Defending Education also asked the Department to audit all of CPS’s policies for other Title VI violations.
Read the full complaint below:
