DOE Opens Discrimination Probe Into Green Bay Public Schools

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Wisconsin's Green Bay Public School District for allegedly discriminating against a white student and blocking access to special needs services.

The DOE said in a release that it was responding to a complaint filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. WILL reported that a white elementary student was prevented from access to special needs services for dyslexia. The complaint alleges that a district employee told a WILL representative that the district used a color-coded spreadsheet to track whether "racial priority" groups were receiving services in front others.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits discrimination in federally funded education programs on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Additionally, the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits recipients of federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of disability.

Cory Brewer, Education Counsel at WILL, said, "It is heartbreaking to think that, in America, a school would consider whether or not to provide services to a disabled student based not on that student's need, but on the color of his skin."

Brewer added, "This is not only unlawful — it is an affront to the character of the American people."

The Green Bay Press Gazette reported that the school district's communications director would not comment on the case.

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights,  said, "The Trump-McMahon Education Department rejects the false and patronizing idea that certain forms of discrimination are benign." Trainor said the case will be "vigorously" pursued.

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