Fifty-nine members of the Congress sent a damning letter to President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education expressing their concern regarding her meddling in civil rights investigations in schools.
In a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the members of the Congress said they received reports regarding her intention to weaken civil rights investigations in schools.
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In addition, they also noted reports indicating that DeVos is undermining the department’s ability to fight discrimination in the country’s educational system.
Last month, it has been reported that Trump’s Education Secretary wants to limit the scope of civil rights investigations—to focus on individual complaints instead on the systemic problems.”
Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the department’s investigation of a student’s complaint of discrimination does only focus on the case. The department will also examine if the incident is part of wider, systemic problem that needs to be resolved.
Seth Galanter, a former principal deputy assistant secretary for human rights in the Education Department under the previous administration, criticized DeVos’ plan to narrow civil rights probe in schools. He pointed out that the primary mission of the department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is to identify and solve systemic problems in schools.
In their letter, lawmakers told DeVos to “withdraw her proposed policy changes to ensure that efforts to address the unfair and unequal treatment of students will not be hindered.”
They emphasized that her proposed policy changes raises questions about the department’s commitment to combat discriminate in a meaningful and effective manner.
“The investigations of systemic bias that you are seeking to curtail have proven invaluable in identifying persons and policies within an institution that promote discrimination. Without examining reported incidents in the broader context of a school’s practices, OCR cannot ensure that impediments to equal access to educations are effectively addressed,” according to the lawmakers.
They pointed out that DeVos’ proposal will “severely undermine the department’s ability to prevent systemic discrimination.” It will also “unfairly weaken parent’s ability to advocate on behalf of their children.”