According to a press release from the DOE, its Office for Civil Rights is leading the investigation into PPS’s conduct. This comes after a December 2025 complaint filed by Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education.
The complaint informs that money has been set aside for academic intervention, wraparound support, facilities, and family programs only intended for black students. The schools did this despite their own research showing other student groups facing similar challenges.
The PPS website shows that between 2023 and 2024 black students made up the third largest student population group at 8.3%.
White students were the majority at 54.6 % with Hispanic/Latino students following at 17.8%. The Asian population fell at 5.7%, and multi-racial students, depending on ancestry, was either 5.5% or 6.8%. Native American/Alaskan and Native Pacific Islander both were under 1%.
"It's a great thing because they're going to find out that there is rampant race discrimination in Portland," Perry tells AFN. "They have a $1.2 billion construction bond for Portland public schools that establishes the district's Center for Black Student Excellence."
Perry called it an absolute red flag to the Trump administration, as it shows taxpayer dollars that are supposed to be allocated in a race-neutral way for publicly funded education outlets are being doled out on the basis of race.
That, said, Perry, is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The title prohibits the exclusion or denial of federal funding for programs be dictated by race, color, or national origin.
"This is a very big stick that the Department of Education has," states Perry, when asked what the Department can really do about this situation. "The Civil Rights Act actually permits the Department of Education to withhold funds if they cannot come to a voluntary resolution agreement.”
Some money has already gone towards the project, leading Perry to believe that the DOE is "well within its authority to revoke federal funding" for Portland.
"That would not only imperil any of the black students in Portland Public Schools, but it will imperil students of all races, all of whom are shown to be significantly struggling with education right now," says Perry.
Perry said that the schools are already working at a disadvantage.
"What makes it worse is that Portland Public Schools is actually operating at a $50 million budgetary shortfall right now. So, it's not just bad financial management, but it's race discrimination that is patently illegal," concludes Perry.
