Families turn to states for civil rights support as Trump dismantles the Education Department

"In their mostly white school district, Black students routinely heard racial slurs. White classmates hurled insults like slave, monkey or worse. It often went unpunished. Parents made those claims in a 2024 complaint asking the U.S. Education Department to investigate racial bullying at the Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania."

"One of the Education Department's biggest jobs is to police discrimination in America's schools. But amid mass firings and shifting priorities, that role has waned. In its place, there's an emerging push for states to step up."

"The idea carries risk. Pushing the work to states could create a patchwork of systems with uneven protections. Some worry it will embolden the Trump administration to retreat further on civil rights."

"If the federal government won't stand up for our most vulnerable students, I will, said Williams, a Democrat. Her bill, to be introduced, proposes a new state civil rights office to be modeled after its federal counterpart."

The Trump administration's layoffs at the U.S. Education Department have severely reduced its capacity to investigate racial discrimination in schools. Thousands of complaints, including one from Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania involving racial slurs against Black students, remain unprocessed. In response, Democratic-led states are establishing their own civil rights agencies to address discrimination based on race, disability, and sex. Pennsylvania lawmakers are proposing a new state agency modeled after federal counterparts. While this shift aims to protect vulnerable students, it risks creating inconsistent protections across states and may encourage further federal retreat from civil rights enforcement.

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