The Trump administration is investigating New York’s education department over claims it violated federal civil rights law by requiring schools to retire Native American mascots.
A legal expert told Gothamist the probe could lead to a lengthy legal battle if the state education department fights back.
The federal investigation is the latest development in an ongoing standoff between local and federal officials concerning Massapequa, a Long Island school district seeking to keep its "Chiefs" mascot and team name despite a state ban approved by the Board of Regents.
Massapequa is one of several school districts that could lose state funding — and see school board members removed — if they do not comply with the policy by this summer. The district, along with Wantagh and Connetquot, sued to block the new rule, but a judge dismissed the case earlier this year.
President Donald Trump criticized the mascot ban last week and vowed to intervene. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Friday announced a new civil rights investigation targeting the state education department and Board of Regents.
Legal battles between state and federal officials are not uncommon. But this case is murkier, according to Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of Michigan.
“The general rule is when there is such a conflict, federal law wins out,” said Litman. “What is odd or difficult about this case is that it’s not at all clear what federal law or laws the Trump administration thinks New York might be violating by conditioning local schools funding on removing certain mascots.”
Federal education officials said they were investigating whether New York violated Title VI, a federal law prohibiting discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
“The U.S. Department of Education will not stand by as the state of New York attempts to rewrite history and deny the town of Massapequa the right to celebrate its heritage in its schools,” McMahon said in a statement. “While New York chooses to prioritize erasing Native Americans, their rich history, and their deep connection to the state, it is requiring schools to divert time and resources away from what really matters: educating our students.”
A spokesperson for the state education department told Gothamist on Monday that the federal government had not yet contacted them about the matter.
“The U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to interfere with a state law concerning school district mascots is inconsistent with Secretary McMahon’s March 20, 2025 statement that she is 'sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs,'” spokesperson JP O’Hare said. “Massapequa has already filed, and lost, a lawsuit regarding this issue.”
Litman said the education department or individual school districts could challenge the federal probe in court.
But “we don't know what the outcome of this investigation is going to be — we don’t know to what extent the Trump administration is actually going to try to threaten schools’ federal funds on making one decision or another,” she said. “We don’t know whether New York or a school might sue to challenge the Trump administration’s investigation, so there’s a considerable amount of uncertainty.”
The Massapequa Board of Education thanked the Trump administration for its support, saying in a statement that it stood “with Massapequa in our effort to preserve the Chiefs name and honor our community’s proud history.”
“Attempts to erase Native American imagery do not advance learning — they distract from our core mission of providing a high-quality education grounded in respect, history, and community values,” Board President Kerry Wachter said.
The state Board of Regents' guidance encouraged schools to work directly with Indigenous communities. Harry Wallace, chief of the Unkechaug Indian Nation, a Long Island tribe, said in a statement that research and other evidence shows the use of Native American mascots perpetuates racist symbolism that harms both Native and non-Native people.
“But this is not about logic, it's about emotion,” he said of the Massapequa case. “It is ironic that a Town that has a history of killing the local Indigenous population should now claim as a tradition a fake image of those very same people.”
Germain Smith, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation Council of Trustees, echoed that sentiment.
“We are not a symbol. We are not history. We exist today,” Smith said. “To some Native children, it is hurtful to see those mascots, and you would not understand that necessarily unless you grew up in a Native community.”
