The Trump administration told Chicago Public Schools Tuesday that it will cancel a grant after the school district failed to abolish the Black Student Success Plan, as the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights demanded.
CPS also refused to comply with the federal government’s second demand, that it issue a statement barring transgender students from using bathrooms or competing in sports that coincide with their gender identity.
Craig Trainor, the education department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, emailed to CPS that “the school district fails to address the harms befalling CPS students while the district violates federal antidiscrimination laws.” Therefore, he wrote that he will stand by his decision to pull the grant.
CPS said it expected $8 million from the Magnet Schools Assistance Program and planned to use the money to develop personalized learning programs and instruction in science, technology, engineering, arts and math in particular schools. CPS officials said they are reviewing whether they can maintain these initiatives.
In relation to the district’s estimated $10 billion budget, the grant is relatively small. But pulling this funding could signal the Trump administration’s willingness to come after more of the district’s federal funding, which is projected to make up around $1 billion of the district’s 2026 budget.
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