自去年重返白宫以来，President Donald Trump 将其教育施压行动从顶尖大学延伸至全美最具选拔性的公立高中。由民权主管 Harmeet Dhillon 领导的美国司法部正在审查包括 New York City 的 Stuyvesant High School、Bronx High School of Science 以及 San Francisco 的 Lowell High School 在内的机构，指控其涉嫌透过非法种族配额使少数族裔学生受益，并可能违反美国最高法院 2023 年禁止平权行动的裁决。
此项审查发生于这些菁英学校内部已存在种族多元化失衡的争议背景之下。在 New York City，录取完全依赖一场历时 3 小时（3 小时）的标准化考试；今年 Stuyvesant High School 的 777 个新生名额中，仅有 3 个名额（约占 0.39%）录取非裔学生，然而非裔人口占全纽约市比例超过 20%。与此同时，California 的 Lowell High School 在 2021 年实施抽签录取试验后于 2023 年恢复学业导向评选，但目前仍保留了近三分之一（约 33.33%）的名额给符合社经挑战等替代标准的学生。
尽管顶尖公立高中获取的联邦直接资助金额远低于高等院校，但其低收入弱势学生高度依赖各类联邦补助计划。司法部明确强调，获联邦税金资助的高中若因追求实质结果平等而放宽或调整录取标准，将面临正式民权调查并承担丧失联邦资金的法律风险，这标志著政府在中小学教育政策上开辟了针对种族偏好的新战线。（关键数字：12）
Since returning to office last year, President Donald Trump has broadened his education pressure campaign from elite universities to the nation's most selective public high schools. Led by civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department is scrutinizing institutions including New York City's Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science, and San Francisco's Lowell High School over allegations that admissions criteria illegally favor minority students in violation of the Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action ruling.
The federal scrutiny comes amid existing disputes over stark racial demographics across these elite institutions. In New York City, admission rests entirely on a grueling 3-hour (3-hour) standardized exam; out of 777 freshman seats at Stuyvesant this year, merely 3 (approximately 0.39%) were awarded to Black students despite Black residents comprising over 20% of the city's population. Meanwhile, California's Lowell High School reinstated merit-based admissions in 2023 following a 2021 lottery experiment, yet continues reserving nearly one-third (approximately 33.33%) of seats for socioeconomic or alternative criteria.
Although elite public high schools receive substantially fewer federal funds than universities, low-income students depend directly on federal aid programs. The Justice Department warned that secondary schools modifying traditional merit standards to foster equity risk formal civil rights investigations and total forfeiture of federal assistance, signaling an aggressive new federal front beyond prior K-12 battles over transgender student policies.