Why We Are Suing the Department of Education

ProPublica reports that it has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over the agency's failure to release records under the Freedom of Information Act, specifically data on civil rights investigations at schools. The outlet's education reporters Jodi Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards documented that the Education Department ceased publicly updating its weekly list of ongoing civil rights investigations on January 14, 2025, and subsequently failed to produce any records in response to FOIA requests filed over the course of a year—with the department now claiming a 262-business-day response timeline for basic information. The article is bylined by Charles Ornstein, a named journalist with ProPublica's track record of FOIA litigation, and provides concrete examples (such as the Washington sixth-grader bullying case and the Illinois special-education district's high arrest rates) demonstrating why access to this data matters for public accountability and investigative journalism. Independent news search results corroborate concerns about Education Department transparency issues, with Federal News Network reporting that the department resolved none of 70 cases brought by Connecticut students last year, and Higher Ed Dive documenting court actions challenging the department's data demands under Administrative Procedure Act grounds. Watch for the outcome of ProPublica's lawsuit and whether the Education Department begins releasing frozen civil rights investigation data, as well as the broader impact of the Trump administration's stated plan to shut down the Department of Education entirely on future transparency and civil rights oversight.