Trump Department of Education investigating Evanston-Skokie D65 for alleged racial discrimination
The U.S. Department of Education announced it is investigating a complaint of racial discrimination at Evanston/Skokie School District 65 filed by a Georgia-based conservative legal nonprofit organization on behalf of a white elementary teacher.
The nonprofit, called the Southeastern Legal Foundation, filed the complaint on behalf of Stacy Deemar, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in District 65, to the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on April 24.
Deemar previously filed a complaint to the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education in 2019, and in 2021 filed a federal lawsuit against her employer, according to Southeastern Legal Foundation Executive Director Kimberly Hermann. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2024 during the Biden administration.
The complaint states that the district has 'engaged in unconscionable race-based discrimination in stark violation of the constitutional requirement of colorblindness and in violation of Title VI' of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the bases of race, color, and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding.
'The District has instituted racial segregation for its staff. It has funded and encouraged racially-segregated student groups, and it continues to do so today. It relentlessly reinforces harmful and hateful racial stereotypes that ascribe characteristics to entire racial groups. This is unlawful under equal protection, Title VI, and its accompanying regulations,' the complaint states.
The complaint says that the district's use of educational matter based on social justice advocacy created a racially-charged environment for its students. A district-wide Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action took place between 2018 and 2022 before those lessons were incorporated into the students' curriculum, according to the complaint.
'Among the many goals of the District's BLM week was to ensure that students as young as four years old 'understand that our country has a racist history that is grounded in white privilege' and that they need to 'be an activist and be actively anti-racist,'' the complaint states.
District 65's Communication Manager Hannah Dillow said the district received notice of the complaint on May 1.
In a statement over email, Dillow said, 'We are a diverse school district committed to equity and to ensuring that every child gets what they need and deserve to reach their full potential. It remains our responsibility to meet every child where they are and to ensure continued growth.'
'The District will continue to fulfill the intent and promise of equal protection and nondiscrimination embodied in the Constitution and our nation's civil rights laws. The complaint misrepresents our District's lawful and important professional learning and student-focused initiatives that are designed to advance the work of ensuring that ALL students have access and opportunity to a robust, high quality education.'
'The District will fully comply with the OCR investigation to help ensure a just and expeditious resolution.'
In a phone interview with Pioneer Press, Hermann, of the legal foundation, said the new complaint to the Civil Rights Office incorporates a previous complaint made by Deemar in 2019. The Office of Civil Rights determined that the district violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act during President Donald Trump's first term in office, but subsequently dismissed the determination after President Joe Biden was inaugurated to office.
'There's a very long history of racial discrimination in District 65. A continued emphasis on race and segregating, and separating students, teachers and parents by race, which violates the civil rights laws in this country and our constitution,' Hermann said.
'The new complaint includes new facts which come up to present day, because despite the fact that there was a letter of finding that District 65 violated civil rights laws, they continue to dig in and continue to violate our laws in this country, and continue to refuse to look at things through a colorblind lens and focus on race instead of education.'
When asked why a Georgia-based organization is representing Deemar in Illinois, Hermann said the Southeastern Legal Foundation has clients all over the country. 'We are the country's oldest conservative public interest law firm,' she said, noting that the 50th year anniversary will be in 2026, and that the foundations represents its clients for free.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in the announcement, '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. If true, how is this conceivable in America today?'
When asked why the U.S. Department of Education is investigating the north suburban school district, Julie Hartman, a spokesperson for the department, referred inquiries to the Southeastern Legal Foundation.
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