On September 2, 2026, Defending Education asked the U.S. Department of Education to continue investigating LAUSD for expanding its Black Student Achievement Plan, which is already under investigation for possible racial discrimination. Despite previously claiming it had changed the program, LAUSD is now putting tens of millions of dollars into expanding it. Read DE’s letter below:
On April 23, 2026, DE was notified that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights had reopened its investigation into LAUSD following a DE request to reopen. Read the Department’s letter below:
The Background
On July 11, 2023, Defending Education filed a complaint against LAUSD with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). DE claimed LAUSD was breaking Title VI, a law that bans race discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. It also claimed LAUSD was violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which bars government bodies, including public schools, from race-based discrimination.
The complaint showed that LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan offered programs and support based on students’ race, not open to all students.
On July 11, 2024, OCR dismissed the complaint. LAUSD had told OCR that the program now chose schools based on test scores, school climate surveys, and absences instead of race, and that its resources were “available to all students regardless of race, color, and national origin.” See the letter here.
But in October 2024, just three months later, a member of the LAUSD school board and the LAUSD superintendent were caught on a hot mic agreeing that “nothing has changed” in the program. On March 25, 2026, DE asked the Office for Civil Rights to reopen its complaint. Read DE’s request below:
Defending Education urges the Department to investigate every claim in its complaint, fix LAUSD’s illegal policies and practices, and order the right remedies.
Read the original complaint’s exhibits below:
