ProPublica has sued the U.S. Department of Education in federal court in New York, accusing it of withholding public records about how it enforces civil rights protections for millions of American students.
The Department of Education has not provided public records related to the investigation, communications or other work that ProPublica sought through four Freedom of Information Act requests filed last year.
The Department of Education’s civil rights division has investigated allegations of discrimination in schools for decades. The company has previously kept a list of open studies online and posted the results of completed studies. But under Education Secretary Linda McMahon, appointed by President Donald Trump, the civil rights office has been gutted, and the work of the remaining inspectors is largely shrouded in secrecy.
ProPublica has filed three FOIA requests, the first of which is more than a year old, seeking records regarding civil rights investigations opened or closed, notices sent to agencies being investigated, and past discrimination findings that were reversed under the Trump administration. The fourth request called for communication between Education Department officials and conservative groups that have criticized public schools. Some groups have urged OCR to investigate specific school districts and have met frequently with Mr. McMahon.
The ministry did not respond to the request other than to acknowledge that it had received it.
“The Department of Education’s actions have real-world implications for millions of students and families,” said Alexandra Perloff Giles of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, which represents ProPublica.
“The public has a right to understand how executive power is being used to hold the government accountable,” she said. “Congress enacted FOIA to provide the public with the transparency it needs, and we are asking the courts to enforce it.”
A department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. The ministry has not yet responded to the charges in court.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges that the operations of OCR, once one of the federal government’s largest enforcement agencies of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, have become significantly less transparent since President Trump took office. While each presidential administration has its own priorities, OCR has consistently worked to uphold constitutional rights against discrimination based on disability, race, and sex.
But under the Trump administration, OCR’s focus shifted to investigations related to curbing anti-Semitism, suspending transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports, and combating allegations of discrimination against white students. Complaints about transgender students playing sports or using girls’ restrooms at school are quickly dealt with, while incidents of racial harassment against black students from last year are ignored.
Additionally, some of the documents detailing how the case was resolved are posted online, while some of the old resolution agreements have been terminated. These layoffs are not disclosed to the public.
“Public interest in this information has been significant and continues. With approximately 49.6 million students in the United States, changes to the ED and its policies will impact millions of families,” the complaint states.
President Trump is working to shut down the department. Hundreds of department employees were laid off, bringing OCR’s full-time workforce to 403 as of December 2025, up from 568 in 2024. Mr. McMahon closed seven of the 12 local OCR offices that handled discrimination complaints nationwide. Complaints of discrimination from families are piling up amid OCR staffing challenges and shifting priorities.
When President Joe Biden left office, about 12,000 investigations were opened. By December 2025, that number was around 24,000. ProPublica’s reporting found that new complaints, as well as old complaints included in the backlog, are often dismissed without investigation. OCR workers say they feel like they are working in a “layoff factory.”
ProPublica filed several other lawsuits last year seeking to force transparency from courts and the federal government. This includes a lawsuit filed against the State Department in May. ProPublica joins other media organizations in filing the lawsuit.
Have you recently filed a civil rights lawsuit or have one pending? We need your help to understand the full picture of how dismantling the Office of Civil Rights is impacting students, parents, school staff, and their communities.
