Parents group files civil rights complaint against DC schools for kids group open only to minorities

A national parents group whose stated mission is to "reclaim our schools from activists" has filed a civil rights complaint against District of Columbia Public Schools, arguing a federally funded “empowerment” club created for young female students who identify as black and-or nonbinary is racially discriminatory because “only some students are allowed to participate based on their race."

The group, Parents Defending Education, filed the complaint Jan. 6 with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, asking that the office investigate an “Empowerment Club” in the school district, in the nation's capital. 

The grassroots group is asking the office to determine whether the so-called "Empowerment Club" violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in programs receiving federal funding. 

The club, which parents' organization considers an "affinity group" – in which members traditionally join together in a shared interest like a hobby or even political activism – is also open to "African, African-American and biracial" female students, from first- to fifth-grade, according to a flyer attached in the complaint. 

Caroline Moore, vice president of PDE, said in a statement to Crisis In the Classroom, a news franchise covering American schools, that the district has "created an academic community in which students are purposely separated because of their race at a very young age.”

"It is unconscionable that this is happening in public schools, let alone in a metropolitan area, at such impressionable ages," she also said. "Public schools should foster all students based on their needs and encourage them to befriend all of their classmates, not just the ones who look like them.”

The complaint also includes the club’s permission slip that allows a parent to decide whether their child may participate in the program. The slip notes that the parent understands that “my child will be involved in various activities aimed at building community, friendship, leadership, and self-confidence."

Read the full complaint here. 

The group also says members are "fighting indoctrination in the classroom – and promoting the restoration of a healthy, non-political education for our kids the group also says as its mission." 

DCPS spokesperson Evan Lambert told Just The News the school system "remains committed to fostering environments where all students and staff feel a sense of belonging. The mentioned Empowerment Club is not a district-wide program, it was born out of a school-identified need to arrange support for students of color. As noted on the parental permission slip, the club and any others like it are open for all students to participate.”