GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened a Title VI and disability-discrimination investigation into the Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS), the office announced in a news release on Wednesday.
OCR says the investigation is based on a complaint filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) alleging GBAPS discriminated against an elementary school student with dyslexia on the basis of race.
“In America, we do not ‘prioritize’ students for educational access, nor do we judge their worth, on the basis of skin color. Schools must provide special needs students access to supportive educational resources on an equal footing and on the basis of need, not on the basis of race,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.
“The Trump-McMahon Education Department rejects the false and patronizing idea that certain forms of discrimination are ‘benign,’" Trainor continued. "We will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the Green Bay Area Public School District is not discriminating against its students on the basis of race and disability.”
According to the news release, WILL's complaint details the GBAPS policy which establishes racial "priority groups" in its allocation of educational resources — allegedly prioritizing additional resources to First Nations, Black, and Hispanic students.
The complaint alleges that a student with dyslexia was denied timely and adequate literacy resources because he is white.
NBC 26 reached out to the Green Bay Area Public School District for comment, but the district said it has no comment at this time, as this is an active investigation.
