Washington parents file federal Title VI complaint over schools superintendent's DEI practices

The Washington Parents Network (WPN) has filed a formal Title VI Civil Rights Complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, alleging widespread violations of federal anti-discrimination laws tied to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools.

The 69-page complaint, submitted on April 18, accuses Reykdal of overseeing and defending policies that the WPN claims are “racial shaming” and in direct violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race or skin color in any program receiving federal financial assistance. WPN’s filing references the 2023 US Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which declared race-based preference programs in federally funded institutions unconstitutional. The group argues that the ruling’s scope extends beyond college admissions and applies to all public education institutions, including K-12 systems.

"For the past 8 years, Chris Reykdal has falsely claimed that Washington DEI curriculum, which is more accurately called Racial Shaming, complied with Title VI," said WPN in a statement. The organization included 30 specific examples of how the programs violate the civil rights of students, parents, and school board members across Washington State.

The complaint calls on OCR to launch an investigation into the state's DEI practices and to withhold federal education funds until Reykdal agrees to end these programs permanently.

The complaint follows a series of federal actions aimed at enforcing compliance with anti-discrimination mandates post-Students v. Harvard. On April 3, 2025, the US Department of Education sent compliance certification letters to all state K-12 education agencies. On April 8, Reykdal issued a press release refusing to certify Washington’s compliance, stating that the Supreme Court decision was limited to higher education admissions.

WPN calls this interpretation “false and dangerous,” claiming Reykdal is ignoring both federal law and his constitutional duties.

The Title VI complaint isn’t the only legal pressure Reykdal is facing. Just last week, the US Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel launched a separate investigation into his office for possible violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and Title IX. This stems from actions taken against La Center School District after it resisted directives to withhold students' gender identities from parents.

Further controversy surrounds Reykdal’s public comments and policies regarding gender and athletics. Reykdal claimed in an interview, “It is quite simply inaccurate to say biologically that there are only boys and only girls," in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order that there are only two genders. He added, "DEI is not a harmful thing, it's a good thing," in response to Trump’s executive order banning it.

He recently criticized Trump’s executive order banning biological males from competing in girls’ sports. Two proposed rule changes in the agency governing sports in Washington to align participation with biological sex failed earlier this month, missing approval thresholds in part due to legal threats from the state’s Attorney General and Reykdal himself.

Reykdal, who has presided over a disastrous decline in Washington’s academics where it was recently revealed that 71 percent of the State’s eighth graders aren’t proficient in math and 69 percent aren’t proficient in reading despite record spending, threatened to withhold funds from a school district which refused to hide students’ gender identities from parents.