Overview
- A court filing says the U.S. Department of Education agreed to return the withheld magnet grant funds by Aug. 28 as part of a settlement with Chicago Public Schools.
- CPS sued in March, arguing the department removed the grants without the required legal process or notice for federal funding decisions.
- The department had cited an OCR finding that called the Black Student Success Plan 'textbook racial discrimination' and described transgender‑supportive policies as sex‑based discrimination when it stripped roughly $6 million and future funding.
- CPS says the grants fund personalized learning and STEM magnet programming in high‑need schools and that the district used contingency and other local funds to preserve staff pay and after‑school programs while funding was withheld.
- The Republican‑led House Committee on Education and the Workforce is separately demanding CPS documents on transgender policies with a Sept. 11 deadline, a review that could influence further federal action.