Between March 11 and June 27, 2025, the Education Department‘s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) dismissed 3,424 complaints — an unusually high number that has alarmed former officials and advocates amid the Trump administration’s plans for significantly cutting staff.
According to POLITICO, court documents state that OCR received 4,833 complaints during that time, dismissing 96 due to insufficient evidence and resolving 290 through settlements, voluntary agreements, or technical assistance.
OCR enforces federal civil rights laws in schools and other Education Department-funded institutions nationwide, its website states.
Civil rights advocates argue that the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights law — such as discrimination based on gender identity, LGBTQ+ category, and race — draws concern due to the mass dismissals and increases the chances of neglecting critical cases.
“The nation’s students and schools deserve a robust federal civil rights enforcement office that is fully equipped and prepared to enforce the full range of rights Congress guaranteed in law,” Catherine Lhamon, the department’s civil rights chief under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, said in a statement to POLITICO. “The Trump Administration’s own data reporting shows it has decimated its ability to fulfill its statutory duties, to the detriment of rights in school.”
Since President Trump’s return to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, the Education Department has focused its efforts on curbing campus antisemitism, rolling back protections for transgender student athletes, and dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the outlet states.
Colleges refusing to comply with Trump’s policies have faced federal scrutiny, including having their federal funding frozen. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Trump issued a memo in February giving schools and universities two weeks to stop using “racial preferences” in admissions, financial aid, or hiring.
The administration is now at the center of a lawsuit after freezing $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts at Harvard University for noncompliance, AFROTECH™ noted.
While the Education Department declined to answer detailed questions, it says all of its actions comply with federal law, per POLITICO.
“OCR has taken unprecedented steps to streamline its functions according to demand: for example, amid a growing volume of Title IX complaints, OCR partnered with the Department of Justice to expeditiously investigate sex-based discrimination claims,” agency spokesperson Julie Hartman said. “OCR’s daily accomplishments under the Trump Administration disprove the rampant fear-mongering by irresponsible media, and evince that OCR is vigorously upholding its responsibilities to protect all Americans’ civil rights.”
A former OCR official told POLITICO the office rarely dismisses complaints, typically only when there’s insufficient information and the filer can’t be reached, or when the complaint targets a school outside OCR’s jurisdiction, meaning one without federal funding. “But those types of complaints are very rare,” the person said. “Maybe one in a thousand.”
