By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa to determine whether the district engaged in race-based employment practices.

The Justice Department said in a letter to interim superintendent Matthew Smith that it was looking into whether Iowa’s largest public school system had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by engaging in what it described as a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, color or national origin.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, color and sex.

The DOJ pointed to a 2021 program at the district that outlined recruitment goals, including increased recruit

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