"The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, which is supposed to protect students from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, age and disability status, isn't what it once was. The Trump administration laid off nearly half the staff in March, shuttered seven of its 12 regional offices, shifted the hollowed-out agency's focus to new priorities (including keeping transgender women out of women's sports) and then reportedly terminated more employees amid the ongoing shutdown."
"Lindsey Williams, a Pennsylvania state senator who serves as minority chair of the Senate Education Committee, said the region's cases now go to Atlanta, "where they may or may not be heard." To fill this void, Williams, a Democrat, announced she will file legislation to establish an Office of Civil Rights within the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The bill has yet to be written, but Williams saidshe wants to"
"Students facing discrimination across the country now have far fewer staff in the federal Education Department OCR who can respond to their complaints. The agency had a large backlog of cases even before President Trump retook office, and then it dismissed thousands of complaints in the spring. Some advocates have expressed particular concern about OCR's current capacity to process complaints of disability discrimination."
The Trump administration cut nearly half of the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights staff, closed seven of 12 regional offices, and redirected agency priorities toward issues such as barring transgender women from women's sports. Regional offices such as Philadelphia were closed and case work was shifted to distant offices like Atlanta, risking delays or non-action. A Pennsylvania state senator plans legislation to create an Office of Civil Rights within the Pennsylvania Department of Education to investigate and enforce federal civil-rights violations and to consider strengthening state law. OCR already had a backlog and dismissed thousands of complaints, raising particular concern about processing disability-discrimination claims while remaining staff apply a conservative interpretation that often excludes transgender students' gender identity.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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