In its 2023 decision in "Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard," the Supreme Court effectively ended its approval of affirmative action in higher education admissions, holding that practices at Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC) were unlawful. The Court concluded that UNC's practices violated the guarantee of equal…

On May 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division issued a fact sheet highlighting examples of the Division's recent work to protect students and combat segregation and race-based discrimination in schools. The Civil Rights Division has worked for decades to ensure equal educational opportunities for all of America's…

Education has long stood at the epicenter of the battle for civil rights. Inequitable educational opportunity and achievement gaps persist in the United States in no small part because the nation provides limited protection for education as a civil right at the federal level and uneven protection at the state level. Leaders across the political…

This installment of "Equity by Design" brief will review civil rights law, federal disability laws, and related best practices to help schools conceptualize nondiscriminatory, effective services to their growing English Learner (also known as English Language Learners or ELLs) populations, particularly for students with disabilities, and…

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits federally funded programs, activities, and institutions from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin. In its current form, Title VI remains largely unchanged since its adoption. Unlike the Civil Rights Act's better known and more heavily litigated provisions, Title VI is concerned…

The U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) provides this resource to assist school communities with ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) is used in a nondiscriminatory manner in the nation's elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education consistent with federal civil rights laws.…

This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services, part of the Committee on Education and Labor to hear testimony on the Equality Act, H.R. 5, ensuring the right to learn and work free from discrimination. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Suzanne Bonamici, Chairwoman,…

This case illustrates the importance for school leaders and teachers to be knowledgeable about current legal precedent when creating district and school policies. We describe a legal battle that occurred in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in which a school district instituted a policy affecting English learners that was in violation of two federal laws.…

Disparate impact is the dubious approach to civil rights enforcement that claims that an entirely neutral policy that does not discriminate on its face, is not intended to discriminate, and does not actually treat individuals differently based on their race still constitutes illegal racial discrimination if it has a "disproportionate"…

The purpose of this "Equity by Design" brief is to provide educators and parents with information about universal supports, describe how these supports may prevent discrimination, and provide resources to address discrimination or disparate treatment in universal supports.

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) has established a working group to provide information and resources to parents, students, teachers, schools, and school personnel related to the possible outbreak of COVID-19 ("coronavirus") in school districts and postsecondary schools. Schools play an important role in disseminating…

In FY 2016, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) promoted equity and excellence in education through conducting investigations and monitoring schools under resolution agreements, promoting greater understanding of how OCR interprets and enforces civil rights laws through the release of policy guidance, providing technical assistance and outreach to…

Although education is in many ways a responsibility of states and localities, the U.S. federal government also has an important role to play. National laws, court rulings, and policy guidance help ensure that English Learner (EL) and immigrant-background students have equitable access to a meaningful education. It is then up to states and school…

For decades, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has enforced civil rights in our nation's preschool through 12th grade (P-12) and post-secondary schools, which now serve almost 80 million students annually. In Fiscal Year 2015, the OCR promoted excellence in education through conducting investigations and monitoring schools under resolution…

The "Bakke" decision marked a turning point in higher education. Tested again most recently in "Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin," affirmative action policy remains in place even as the Roberts Court shakes its foundation by demanding a degree of administrative oversight not pursued by previous Courts. In spite of…