NAACP Prepares to Defend Students of Color Following Discriminatory Plans from Department of Education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2025
Contact: Chyna Fields, cfields@naacpnet.org
WASHINGTON — On February 14, 2025, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights United States Department of Education issued a what is being called a Dear_Colleague_Letter in which the Department explained the Trump Administration's view that "[i]n recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students. . . ." In fact, these are the only groups of students that the letter identifies as having faced discrimination. In truth, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a 2024 study found that "Black students are twice as likely as their white peers to be in inadequately funded school districts and 3.5 times more likely to be in "chronically underfunded" districts . . . The discrepancies in funding between Hispanic and white students are moderately smaller but still large."
In 2024, the Civil Rights Project at UCLA noted that "Black and Latino students were the most highly segregated in 2021 [the year in which Trump's first term ended]. Though U.S. schools were 45% white, Blacks, on average, attended 76% nonwhite schools, Latino students 75% nonwhite." Furthermore, "[c]harter schools are more seriously segregated than traditional public schools. About 2/5 of charter schools were intensely segregated – almost double the national average and triple the magnet schools' average."
Schools continue to discipline Black students, particularly Black male students, more harshly and more frequently than their white counterparts. For example, according to an ACLU report, between 2017 and 2023, in North Carolina, law enforcement and school staff filed school-based complaints of disorderly conduct against Black students at nearly four times the rate of their white counterparts and in some counties, Black students were referred at a rate of 23 to 42 times more than their white classmates.
Ignoring such facts, the Dear Colleague Letter claims that "systemic and structural racism" never existed in the U.S. Thus, the official policy of the Department seems to be that anti-Black racism that results in racial segregation, underfunding of schools, racial discrepancies in school discipline, etc. does not need to be cured because it does not exist. The Dear Colleague Letter then attacks efforts to remedy the many problems disproportionately plaguing Black and Brown students.
The Dear Colleague Letter states that "[t]he Department intends to take appropriate measures to assess compliance with theapplicable statutes and regulations based on the understanding embodied in this letter beginning no later than 14 days from today's date, including antidiscrimination requirements that are a condition of receiving federal funding." Of note, the Dear Colleague Letter is not a court decision, a federal statute, or a federal regulation.
While there may be many school administrators who fear that they must now guess at what programs or policies might offend the current incarnation of the Department and eliminate the same based upon those guesses, there is a long line of real and enforceable court decisions, federal statutes, and federal regulations that prevent discrimination of the type encouraged by the Dear Colleague Letter. Running afoul of established law, hoping to curry favor with those spreading the false propaganda of the Dear Colleague Letter, may expose school systems and administrators to liability in court.
Put simply, the NAACP and other civil rights groups are watching and ready, willing, and able to agitate, educate, and, if need be, litigate to ensure that students of color are treated fairly and equitably.
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About NAACP
The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.
NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.