US EditionDepartment of Justice Investigating Alleged Des Moines Public Schools Racial Hiring Quotas
The Justice Department is investigating allegations that Des Moines Public Schools used race-based quotas and hiring policies potentially violating federal employment law.
- On Sep 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into Des Moines Public Schools, citing information that DMPS may discriminate in employment.
- Evidence cited by the DOJ includes DMPS policies requiring teaching staff to match student demographics and quotas to increase teachers of color, which may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- The district's superintendent, Dr. Ian Roberts, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Friday and resigned Tuesday after officials found a loaded handgun, $3,000 cash and a hunting knife.
- Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said she has authorized a full investigation and DOJ attorneys will contact the district soon, while a DMPS spokesperson said they are reviewing the letter.
- Under Harmeet K. Dhillon and President Donald Trump, the Justice Department has opened similar probes into public entities like the University of California and Rhode Island, while the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has pulled back from police oversight in Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Trump DOJ Probes DEI Hiring At Des Moines School District After ICE Arrests Ex-Superintendent
The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the DEI hiring practices at the Iowa school system that employed an illegal immigrant superintendent, who resigned from his post Tuesday. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division sent a letter to Des Moines Public Schools Interim Superintendent Matthew Smith Tuesday, notifying him of the probe, which will look into whether the district “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based o…
Board accepts resignation of detained Iowa superintendent
The U.S. Justice Department will investigate whether the Des Moines school district has prioritized race-based hiring practices rather than evaluating job applicants based on merit. That announcement came amid Tuesday’s news that Des Moines superintendent Ian Roberts, who was detained by immigration agents Friday, submitted his resignation and the Des Moines School Board met Tuesday […]
DOJ Probes Iowa’s Largest School District After Arrest of Superintendent
The Justice Department said on Sept. 30 that it was opening an investigation into whether Iowa’s largest school district was violating employment discrimination law through its focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The announcement came just days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested the Des Moines Public School District’s superintendent, an illegal immigrant whom the school district said was pa…
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