Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Education to obtain records related to a Chicago-area school district’s civil rights violations, including mandatory segregation. After two years of stonewalling, the Department is still refusing to release the records, so SLF was forced to sue.
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Evanston/Skokie School District 65 promotes and reinforces a view of race essentialism that divides Americans into groups based solely on their skin color. It segregates staff by race during trainings and staff meetings, offers racially exclusive affinity groups to students, staff, and members of the community, implemented a discipline policy that directs staff to take race into account, and requires students and faculty to engage in “privilege walks,” where they are sorted and treated differently based solely on skin color.
In January 2021, after an 18-month investigation, the Department of Education issued a formal finding that District 65’s policies and procedures violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
But just days after President Biden took office that same month, his administration suddenly and inexplicably withdrew the Department’s findings. That meant that District 65 was free to continue its race-based policies and practices, including segregation.
In the summer of 2021, in response to the Department’s withdrawal, SLF filed a lawsuit on behalf of a brave teacher and asked a federal court to halt the District’s discriminatory practices as a violation of the Constitution and Civil Rights Act.
SLF also submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Education requesting public records related to District 65, including the Department’s inexplicably withdrawn letter of finding. But after being stonewalled and ignored by the Department for nearly two years, SLF has filed this lawsuit.