Trump Administration Opens Investigation of Green Bay School District
Department of Education investigating alleged racial and disability discrimination against a white student.
Members of the Green Bay School Board listen to public comment on Feb. 26, 2024. Joe Schulz/WPR
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation Wednesday into a complaint against the Green Bay Area Public School District, alleging discrimination against a white student based on race.
The complaint, filed by the conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, or WILL, alleges the student, who has dyslexia, was denied reading resources because he is white, citing a “School Success Plan” where the district allegedly prioritized students of other races.
“In America, we do not ‘prioritize’ students for educational access, nor do we judge their worth, on the basis of skin color. Schools must provide special needs students access to supportive educational resources on an equal footing and on the basis of need, not on the basis of race,” said Craig Trainor, the federal acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a statement released by the U.S. Department of Education.
“The Trump-McMahon Education Department rejects the false and patronizing idea that certain forms of discrimination are ‘benign.’ We will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the Green Bay Area Public School District is not discriminating against its students on the basis of race and disability,” Trainor stated.
A spokesperson from the district confirmed they received the Office for Civil Rights complaint, but declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
The WILL complaint, filed on behalf of the student’s mother, Colbey Decker, alleges in fall 2024 the district discriminated against her son on the basis of race by prioritizing special education resources for students of other races. It also alleges he was discriminated against on the basis of disability when the district failed to evaluate him for special education services.
The complaint cites a district policy saying it will conduct “intentional work educating our focus students, prioritizing additional resources to First Nations, Black, and Hispanic students.”
“They explicitly said that they were prioritizing certain student groups because of their race, and our client’s son was not one of those races that was considered a priority,” said Cory Brewer, education counsel at WILL. “Even though he has dyslexia, he was not receiving the services that he needed to be able to help him read.”
The school’s current “School Success Plan” states: “Priority performance goals are established based on data that shows us we are meeting the needs of some student groups better than others. Focusing on a priority performance group of students will elevate our skills as educators and ultimately benefit all students.”
The complaint said the Green Bay King Elementary School principal told Decker he felt called to serve racial groups that are traditionally underperforming and said the district keeps a spreadsheet color-coded by race to prioritize students.
The federal investigation will look into whether the district violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against the student based on race. It will also determine whether the district failed to comply with federal disability laws.
WILL sent the complaint to the Department of Education on Jan. 28, after contacting the school in December.
“Ultimately, we want to see that … students in the district are treated as individuals and not as members of a certain racial group,” Brewer said. “And that kids get the help based on who needs help and not the color of their skin.”
Since Trump returned to the White House in January his administration has targeted diversity initiatives in education, dropped at least one school desegregation case and moved to sharply downsize the Department of Education. Civil rights enforcement within the department has been disproportionately affected by layoffs, according to reporting by NPR.
Trump administration investigates Green Bay school district for alleged discrimination against white student was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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I find it very ironic that WILL is taking this case on behalf of MAGA which deals with a student who may have special education needs being denied appropriate services. Meanwhile, there are probably thousands of students in State Funded choice schools Exceptional Needs who can not get help because educational policy passed by Republicans does not require these schools to provide services to these educationally handicapped children. This issue would be an excellent test case for WILL if the sham law firm was really dedicated towards equity in education. The one exception is that choice schools can score a rather lucrative ‘scholarship” from the State if they take a student with exceptional education needs. Of course, they choose the student who in most cases would probably need minimal services.