The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Des Moines Public Schools has violated federal employment law by discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.
The announcement Tuesday, Sept. 30, comes four days after federal immigration officials arrested district Superintendent Ian Roberts, a native of Guyana. Roberts reportedly was the subject of a 2024 order for removal by an immigration judge and lacked legal authorization to work in the United States.
Roberts resigned his position Tuesday, stating through his attorney he did not want to pose a distraction for the district.
The justice department does not mention Roberts in its announcement, instead citing material from the district’s website that it alleges may violate federal law. In particular, it claims that the district “requires that its teaching and learning staff match the student population in terms of ‘demographics and cultural responsivity'” and also “set specific quotas for increasing ‘the number of teachers of color’ in an affirmative action plan.”
Also mentioned as possible law violations are a district staff retention strategy to “lift up voices of our People of Color” and “create a safer environment for People of Color,” as well as a “3D Coalition” project to support recruitment for “aspiring minority teachers.”
These initiatives and policies may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the justice department said.
“DEI initiatives and race-based hiring preferences in our schools violate federal anti-discrimination laws and undermine educational priorities,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “School districts must cease these unlawful programs and restore merit-based employment practices for the benefit of both students and employees.”
The department’s letter to the district states that Dhillon “has authorized a full investigation to determine whether DMPS is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination” and that justice department attorneys will be contacting the district soon to discuss the scope and timeline for the investigation.
At a school board meeting Tuesday evening to accept Roberts’ resignation, School Board Chair Jackie Norris said the district was aware of the investigation.
“We just received the letter this afternoon, and so, I think, we’re set to have a conversation next week to learn more,” she said.
The board has a regular meeting scheduled for Oct. 7.
Under Dhillon and President Donald Trump, the justice department has announced a number of similar investigations alleging unlawful “DEI” hiring discrimination at other public entities, including Minnesota’s largest county prosecutors’ office, the University of California and the state of Rhode Island.
At the same time, the department’s civil rights division has pulled back from its traditional role as a watchdog over police misconduct, dismissing investigations and police reform agreements with Louisville, Kentucky, Minneapolis and other cities’ law enforcement agencies.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Department of Justice investigating alleged Des Moines Public Schools racial hiring quotas
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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