The U.S. Department of Education announced that it is referring its investigation into the New York State DOE and Board of Regents for their refusal to overturn a ban placed on Native American mascots, names and logos to the Justice Department for enforcement.
“Both of these entities continue to disrespect the people of Massapequa by refusing to come into compliance with the Office for Civil Rights’ proposed agreement to rectify their violations of civil rights law,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a press release Tuesday, June 17. “We will not allow New York State to silence the voices of Native Americans and discriminatorily choose which history is acceptable to promote or erase.”
McMahon visited Massapequa High School in May to personally announce that the U.S. Department’s investigation had found the state violated the Civil Rights Act. She said during her visit that her department was going to give the state Education Department time to comply with their demands before being referred to Justice for enforcement proceedings and potentially losing federal funding.
The Education Department’s website said the state DOE must rescind the part of the educational regulation prohibiting the use of indigenous names, mascots, and logos by New York public schools, issue a memorandum to all local education agencies informing them that they may adopt a name, mascot, and logo consistent with the requirements of Title VI; and issue letters of apology to indigenous tribes, acknowledging that the board violated Title VI by discriminating against Native Americans.
McMahon called the U.S. Department’s request in the resolution “reasonable.”
The U.S. Education Department said the state DOE rejected the agreement.
Schools were originally tasked with establishing a new mascot by the end of the 2022-23 school year, after the ban was announced in April 2023. The deadline was later changed to June 2025.
The Massapequa School District, along with the Wantagh, Connetquot, and Wyandanch school districts, filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s policy. The lawsuit was dismissed in federal court in March but has been appealed by Massapequa.
The Education Department announced in April that it was investigating whether the state’s threat to withhold funding if the Massapequa School District did not drop its Native American mascot constitutes discrimination on the basis of race and national origin.
Massapequa community members recently voiced their support for the district, as they raised $13,000 during a “Save the Chief” festival at the district’s high school.