A pair of advocacy organizations are asking the federal government to investigate Oregon’s education funding system, alleging that several state programs distribute taxpayer dollars using racial criteria that violate federal civil rights law and constitutional protections.
Defending Education and Do No Harm filed a joint complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on May 28, targeting both the Oregon Department of Education and the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission. The complaint argues that Oregon has built race-conscious funding mechanisms into public education programs and that those policies unlawfully favor some racial groups over others.
At the center of the dispute is Oregon’s Charter School Equity Grant program.
According to the complaint, the grant provides funding to charter schools where at least 65 percent of students are either disabled or belong to racial or ethnic groups identified as having historically experienced academic disparities. Critics argue that tying eligibility to racial demographics effectively creates a race-based funding preference.
“What stands out most about Oregon’s system of public school funding is the sheer blatancy of the discrimination — explicit racial quotas and race-based bonuses for distributing public funds written into Oregon law and policy,” Do No Harm Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kurt Miceli told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The complaint cites both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, arguing that government entities cannot allocate benefits based on race. The filing points to recent Supreme Court rulings emphasizing what advocates describe as a color-blind approach to government decision-making.
According to the complaint, Oregon’s rationale for these programs relies on addressing historical inequities and societal discrimination, an approach the organizations argue has increasingly come under legal scrutiny.
The challenge extends beyond K-12 education.
Defending Education and Do No Harm also take aim at the Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s Public University Support Fund, which distributes state funding to public universities. The groups allege that part of the formula awards additional funding based on the number of minority students who graduate from each institution.
That is no small program. According to the complaint, the Public University Support Fund totals approximately $1.07 billion under Oregon’s 2025-2027 budget.
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Perry argued that both programs raise serious constitutional concerns.
“Oregon’s Department of Education and Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission appear to be violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by administering programs that explicitly discriminate on the basis of race,” Perry told the DCNF.
She specifically criticized the Charter School Equity Grant program, arguing that funding tied to student racial demographics resembles an unlawful quota system.
“But it operates a Charter School Equity Grants program, which explicitly funds charters that have at least a 65-percent minority population — something that looks very much like an illegal race-based quota,” Perry said.
Perry also challenged the university funding model.
“The Commission fares no better, as it awards taxpayer funds to schools based on the number of minority students who graduate from each. That kind of race essentialism is odious to the Constitution.”
The organizations frame the issue as part of a broader national debate over diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Defending Education has previously tracked DEI-related spending at universities nationwide and argues that many institutions have moved beyond equal opportunity and into race-based decision-making.
Miceli echoed that argument, saying Oregon’s approach prioritizes equity over equality.
“Oregon’s use of student racial demographics to allocate public funding for K-12 schools and universities is immoral and violates the Constitution and federal antidiscrimination law,” he said.
Neither the U.S. Department of Education nor Oregon education officials responded to requests for comment before publication.
