Yet another school district in the state of Illinois has come under investigation from the Trump Administration– and for good reason.
On May 1st, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights officially opened an investigation into the Evanston-Skokie School District 65 for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
To refresh your memory, Title VI prohibits discrimination based off of race, color, or national origin in any type of program or activity that receives federal funding.
According to the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor,
“The policies and practices to which the District allegedly subjects students and teachers shocks the conscience…
Amid a dismal academic achievement record, the District appears to focus on unlawfully segregating students by race, instructing students to step forward and others to step back on the basis of race, and associating ‘whiteness’ with the devil.”
Illinois Family Institute’s David Smith aptly observes,
“We must recognize and reject the agenda that uses race to foster a ‘us verses them’ victim narrative. Certain leftist ideologies, particularly those associated with critical race theory (CRT) or identity politics, emphasize racial differences in ways that exacerbate societal tensions rather than promote unity. It is utterly unbiblical…”
He goes on to note how District 65’s use of CRT has been an intentional education tactic to promote Marxism in the classroom:
“Moreover, we cannot ignore the intentional efforts to promote cultural Marxism in the U.S. through identity politics and the politics of race. Policies like DEI, CRT in education, or reparations proposals have surged in prominence over the past decade or so. Christopher Rufo in his book America’s Cultural Revolution, calls it a neo-Marxist shift: swapping class struggle for race struggle to destabilize traditional structures like family, meritocracy, or free markets.”
This Civil Rights complaint was filed by the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) on behalf of teacher, Dr. Stacy Deemar, who chose to alert the U.S. Department of Education to this egregious violation.
According to SLF’s Executive Director, Kimberly Hermann,
“Ever since the wrongful withdrawal four years ago of the Department of Education’s finding that District 65’s racial segregation, equity training, discipline policy, and other racially discriminatory policies violated America’s civil rights laws, Dr. Deemar has waited patiently for the harms inflicted by the Biden Administration to be rectified.”
Once again, Illinois public schools have demonstrated time and time again that they are disqualified from teaching our children.
As Craig Trainor noted, District 65 has not only failed to uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but they have also failed in their basic mission– to provide quality education.
According to the Illinois Report Card, which details the academic achievements of school districts, 50% of children in District 65 are proficient in English, Language, and Arts. 49% of children are proficient in Math.
Put another way, only half of the children who attend school in Illinois District 65 are performing academically at grade level.
These are abysmal education results.
Children not only deserve to receive quality education, but they deserve to receive respectful and moral education. District 65’s choice to discriminate against and demonize children who don’t have the “right” skin color is a violation of every moral code that we as Christians hold dear.
If you are a parent with a child in District 65, now would be the perfect time to consider other education options.
