We went to the US Dept of Education

I wanted you to hear this from me.

Parents Defending Education is challenging racially-segregated “affinity groups” in schools — and we’ve filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education to do it, in addition to our ongoing litigation against Wellesley Public School’s racially exclusive affinity groups.

On December 2, I sent a formal complaint  (you can read it here) to the U.S. Department of Education about the New York City Public Schools.

The evidence included a New York Post article from November 18, 2021 about the Lower Manhattan Community School (LMCS).

As the Post reported, LCMS principal Shanna Douglas emailed students to explain that they would be divided into “affinity groups” during the week of November 22.

What are “affinity groups”? They  divide students by race — white, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multi-racial — and one remaining “opt-out” group, which singles out and stigmatizes those who object to segregating  themselves  by race.

It’s deeply saddening that we are fighting this battle against racial segregation 67 years after the Supreme Court held in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation of students is unconstitutional.

Our complaint asks the Department of Education to investigate the allegations, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief.

Because LMCS receives federal funding from the Department of Education, this racial segregation violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which declares that “no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

And this racial segregation is also unconstitutional as it clearly violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Chip, thanks to your support, Parents Defending Education is leading the fight to stop this type of blatant racism masquerading as “social justice.”

Thank you for supporting us as we work to restore a healthy, non-political education for our kids in the New York City Public Schools and across America.

I’ll keep you updated as this important case develops.

Nicole Neily

President

Parents Defending Education