April 22, 2025 Story by: Publisher
The NAACP sued the U.S. Department of Education on April 15 to stop its alleged illegal effort to cut off funding to schools that use diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and prevent Black students from receiving equal education opportunities.
In a complaint filed in Washington, D.C., the largest U.S. civil rights group faulted the Trump administration for targeting programs that offer “truthful, inclusive curricula,” policies to give Black Americans equal access to selective education opportunities, and efforts to foster a sense of belonging and address racism.
It cited the Waterloo school district’s withdrawal of first-grade students from the University of Northern Iowa’s annual African American Read-In, which nearly 3,500 students at 73 schools attended.
The district has become the only one in Iowa to pull out of the event that reaches nearly 3,500 first-graders across the state. Waterloo has the highest percentage of Black public school enrollment in Iowa, with approximately 27% of students identifying as Black. The situation highlights growing tensions between federal mandates, state laws like Iowa’s “divisive concepts” legislation, and local educational priorities, especially in diverse communities like Waterloo.
The district’s decision came after the Trump administration announced that K-12 schools had to eliminate DEI programs or risk losing federal funding. According to district spokesperson Emily Frederick, Waterloo Schools could not risk the potential loss of funding despite having participated in the event for years.
At issue was the featured book “All Because You Matter” by Tami Charles, which includes an illustration of a child standing in front of a Black Lives Matter sign on its final page. A Waterloo after-school literacy program hosted the city’s 19th African American Read-In after the city’s school district withdrew from the statewide program.
In a move that has drawn statewide attention, the Waterloo Community School District withdrew from the University of Northern Iowa’s annual African American Read-In.
In response, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Waterloo native Nikole Hannah-Jones organized an alternative read-in through her 1619 Freedom School. The district cited concerns about potential violations of federal directives against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Hannah-Jones assembled a lineup of authors, including Tami Charles herself, along with award-winning writers Derrick Barnes and Jacqueline Woodson.
Waterloo Community Schools withdrew from the event in February, citing fears of losing federal funding amid diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks. The 1619 Freedom School opted to host with the encouragement of the district.
The suit said the policies “advance a misinterpretation” of federal civil rights laws and Supreme Court precedent that undermine NAACP members’ equal protection rights and protections from viewpoint discrimination under the U.S. Constitution.
The Education Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the federal lawsuit.
NAACP says White House ‘effectively sanctioning’ discrimination
President Donald Trump has made ending racial preferences and so-called DEI programs a top priority in his second White House term.
The Education Department had on Feb. 14 sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools receiving federal funding.
That letter said federal law prevented the schools from considering race as a factor in areas such as admissions, hiring and promotion, pay, financial aid, scholarships and prizes, housing and graduation ceremonies.
Then on April 3, the department demanded certifications of compliance from schools, including an end to DEI programs.
It said this was required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, and a 2023 Supreme Court decision involving Harvard University that effectively ended race-conscious admissions in higher education.
While the department agreed in a separate lawsuit in New Hampshire not to enforce the “Dear Colleague” letter until April 24, the NAACP said some schools have lost funding while others have flinched and canceled programs, citing the Waterloo schools’ cancelation of the UNI program.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson accused the White House of “effectively sanctioning” discrimination that U.S. civil rights laws were designed to prevent.
“Children of color consistently attend segregated, chronically underfunded schools where they receive less educational opportunities and more discipline,” Johnson said. “Denying these truths doesn’t make them disappear–it deepens the harm.”
The NAACP was founded in 1909. Its acronym is short for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The case is NAACP v U.S. Department of Education et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 25-01120.
Source: Des Moines Register/ Iowa Public Radio/ Iowa Starting Line
