Illinois School Districts Join Nationwide Wave of Public Education Institutions Targeted in Ongoing Crisis
- Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, has launched investigations into 36 Illinois public school districts to examine whether they include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) content...
- The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated that the investigations are focused on ensuring compliance with Title IX and Supreme Court precedents on parental rights, including recent rulings...
- Dhillon emphasized that the department is acting to ensure parents are not kept in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are addressed in classrooms.
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The U.S. Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, has launched investigations into 36 Illinois public school districts to examine whether they include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) content in pre-K-12 classrooms and whether parents have been informed of their right to opt their children out of such instruction. The investigations, announced on April 30, 2026, also assess whether districts limit access to single-sex intimate spaces and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated that the investigations are focused on ensuring compliance with Title IX and Supreme Court precedents on parental rights, including recent rulings in Mirabelli v. Bonta and Mahmoud v. Taylor. The districts under investigation include several in the Chicago area, such as Elmwood Park, Center Cass, Oak Lawn-Hometown, and Atwood Heights, among others.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon emphasized that the department is acting to ensure parents are not kept in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are addressed in classrooms. “Parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children,” Dhillon said. “This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests.”
The Justice Department has not yet reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigations, which are part of a broader effort to scrutinize how taxpayer-funded schools address these issues.
Criticism of the investigations has been swift. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing” the DOJ for a “sham investigation” against a state that did not vote for the president in the 2024 election. Durbin stated that the investigators would find “36 Illinois school districts dedicated to providing their students with a good, well-rounded education.”
The full list of districts under investigation includes:
- Atwood Heights School District 125
- Bloomington Public Schools District 87
- Bluford Unit School District 318
- Buncombe Consolidated School District 43
- Center Cass School District 66
- Central School District 104
- Community High School District 155
- Country Club Hills School District 160
- Crete-Monee School District 201-U
- DeKalb Community Unit School District 428
- East Dubuque Unit School District 119
- Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401
- Freeport School District 145
- Galena Unit School District 120
- Gillespie Community Unit School District 7
- Iroquois County Community Unit School District 9
- Leyden Community High School District 212
- Lick Creek Community Consolidated School District 16
- Lyons School District 103
- Martinsville Community Unit School District C3
- Meridian Community Unit School District 223
- Noble Network of Charter Schools
- North Chicago Community Unit School District 187
- North Palos School District 117
- Norwood Elementary School District 63
- O’Fallon Community Consolidated School District No. 90
- Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123
- Odin Public School District 722
- Oregon Community Unit School District 220
- Pembroke Community Consolidated School District 259
- Reavis Township High School District 220
- Ridgeview Community Unit School District 19
- Stockton Community Unit School District 206
- Tamaroa School District 5
- Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215
- Will County School District 92
The investigations are part of a broader national trend of federal scrutiny over how schools address gender and sexuality topics, with critics arguing that such probes are politically motivated and could interfere with local educational autonomy.
The Justice Department has not yet announced a timeline for the completion of these investigations or the next steps that may follow.