Tough lesson for Chicago employees of US Education Dept.: They're gone

As President Donald Trump penned an executive order dismembering the U.S. Department of Education, two different scenes were playing out in Chicago.

The national president of the American Federation of Teachers angrily pledged to take the Trump administration to court-suing for Thursday's breakup of the Education Department.

But as the union leader spoke, the drastic White House move was visibly underway in Chicago. On the 37^th floor of the Kluczynski Federal Building, work at the Office for Civil Rights was winding down. NBC Chicago found a shredding bin parked outside the main door and rolling trash containers at the ready for a Friday final day.

NBC 5 Investigates also found more than 900 civil rights complaints concerning school districts, colleges and universities throughout Illinois and five other midwestern states currently listed as “active investigations" underway.

Those complaints represent scores of allegations of racial and sexual harassment, sexual violence, disability and age discrimination.

What happens to those complaints with the Department of Education being dismantled?

“It's a great question, and we really aren't sure," said Jennifer Smith Richards who has been researching civil rights cases for Pro Publica in Chicago. Smith Richards has written extensively about the impact of the Chicago office being shut down and what happens to the hundreds of civil rights complaints. "What we know is that the Chicago Office of Civil Rights (OCR,) will be closed."

Her research and reporting have determined that the cases will be moved to Denver.

"A lot of the work that the office for Civil Rights does is very in-person work,” Smith Richards said. "So, when the attorneys who are working for OCR are investigating a complaint, they often actually visit a school, to see things in-person and to interview students. So, if you have an office in Denver that is charged with, investigating a complaint that arises, for example, in Ohio, that is that is quite a long way to travel.”

NBC 5 Investigates has found 906 civil rights complaints concerning school districts, colleges and universities throughout Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota.

They are currently listed as “active investigations” by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

MORE: What does the Education Department do and what will Trump's order mean for you?

Illinois has the highest number of cases of all six states currently under investigation by the Chicago office at 330.

They include scores of allegations of racial and sexual harassment, and disability and age discrimination, as well as nine allegations of sexual violence.  Two of those complaints of sexual violence involve Waukegan Public Schools, and one involves the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Interestingly, we found that the Office of Civil Rights’ website only lists active investigations that were opened before the Trump Administration had taken office. The most recent new investigation on the website was launched on Jan. 6, 2025.

What could happen next?

However, we know that the current administration has launched scores of its own civil rights investigations — including one launched just yesterday, when the department announced a probe into Deerfield Public School District 109, after a parent there alleged that her daughter was told to change clothes in a locker room that included a transgender student.

And that followed an announcement last week that the department was launching investigations into 45 universities — including the University of Chicago — with the aim to “end the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education program and activities,” according to a USDOE press release. 

In addition, President Trump’s DOE has said it plans to investigate sixty colleges and universities for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination.  Those schools include Northwestern University in Evanston, and Illinois Wesleyan University in downstate Bloomington.

It’s assumed that those are investigations that the Trump Administration will want to pursue. So – as the various Offices of Civil Rights are closed or consolidated – it begs the question of how, and where, these cases will be pursued.

Smith Richards says there are countless questions remaining after President Trump signed Thursday’s executive order. “We've never seen it happen. It's never been, a president has never tried to fully dismantle, the entire U.S. Department of Education or any federal agency for that matter. So, we've not ever seen this happen before. And I think that people are having a really difficult time predicting, what will happen next."