PRESS RELEASE: Defense of Freedom Institute Files Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against Atlanta-Area School District

Complaint follows DFI report exposing City Schools of Decatur’s illegal race- and sex-based policies and practices

WASHINGTON — The Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) today filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against City Schools of Decatur (CSD) in Georgia for policies and practices that violate Title IX and Title VI of federal civil rights law. The complaint comes on the heels of DFI’s recent report, “All the Woke We Cannot See,” presenting the district’s hidden DEI agenda as a case study in how some school districts are “waiting out” the current administration’s civil rights enforcement priorities.

The complaint illustrates how CSD violates Title IX by requiring schools to grant biological males access to sex-separated intimate facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, and sports designated for girls and women and maintaining overnight field-trip policies that may require girls to share bedrooms with biological males.

The complaint also exposes how the district has discriminated in violation of Title VI by directing schools to focus obsessively on race in the development of every policy and as a consideration in every decision, including in recruiting and hiring, allocation of resources, student achievement and discipline, and community engagement. It further details how the district has required teachers to incorporate “cultural humility” into curricula and classroom materials, including concepts that portray “whiteness” as inherently problematic and teach that white people owe a debt to black students.

DFI’s complaint also raises serious concerns about antisemitic resources promoted by the district that characterize Jews in Israel as “settler-colonialists” and accuse Israel of maintaining an “apartheid” system oppressing Palestinians.

Importantly, the complaint identifies a disturbing pattern of conduct beginning in early 2025 in which district administrators have quietly withdrawn resources, practices, and statements of policy from public view in an apparent effort to deflect the attention of federal and state civil rights officials away from their discriminatory DEI efforts. For example, CSD removed from its website mention of its equity department and removed public access to an extensive database of online resources dedicated to pursuing “racial equity” by resisting “white supremacy.”

“City Schools of Decatur cannot sacrifice the civil rights of its students, parents, and teachers in service of noxious ideology,” said Paul Zimmerman, DFI’s senior policy and regulatory counsel, who authored the complaint and report. “Altering, renaming, and concealing from the public one’s discriminatory mission and resources does nothing to relieve a school district of its self-evident obligation not to treat students differently or demean them on the basis of their race, shared ancestry, or sex. OCR should investigate this district and make clear that complying with Title IX and Title VI is not optional.”

DFI asks OCR to investigate CSD’s policies and practices and place the district on notice that continued failure to comply with federal civil rights law may result in the loss of federal funding.

To read the federal civil rights complaint, click here.