Civil Rights
Read more about civil rights and schools, enforcement by the Education Department's office for civil rights, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, and more
How a Federal Office Investigates and Resolves Discrimination Complaints Against Schools
What is OCR, how do you file a complaint, and what relief can it offer for students or staff whose civil rights may have been violated?
Equity & Diversity
Educators and Advocates Brace for Harsher Stance on Immigration Under Trump
In the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and repeal protections granted to certain young immigrants. Will he follow through?
Social Studies
Opinion
Remembering our Roots—Democracy of the People
The most important task after this dismal election is to remember the idea that animated America's founding --- democracy is people-centered, not politician-centered. Building foundations for this idea through people-owned schools -- free spaces -- which bring people together across partisan and other divides is a crucial task.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Trump Set to Shift Gears on Civil Rights, ESSA, Says a K-12 Transition-Team Leader
President-elect Donald Trump also will work to ensure "a new way of how to deliver public education," said Gerard Robinson, a former Florida and Virginia state chief.
Equity & Diversity
Yonkers, N.Y., District Commits to More Inclusion of Students with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights said that some students were placed in self-contained special education settings without an individualized justification for doing so.
Law & Courts
Obituary
Obituary
Jack Greenberg, a civil rights lawyer who helped litigate the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, has died.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Citizen Teachers: A New Common School Movement?
Democracy schools in America were associated with the "common school movement," embodying ideals of a "commonwealth" created and sustained by people in communities. As people made the commonwealth -- and its common schools -- they became invested in the commonwealth as a counterweight to private wealth. Can we do this again? If so, how did you rebuild a sense of ownership and connections in communities with the schools you were involved with?
Law & Courts
Taking a Stand: How Schools Should Respond to National-Anthem Protests
A First Amendment expert says K-12 officials can't discipline students for acts of protest that don't disrupt school operations.
English Learners
An Illustrated Guide to the ABCs of English-Language-Learner Education
Available in English and Spanish, the guide is designed to help parents "ask the right questions and support your child on their journey as an English-learner."
School Climate & Safety
Obama Administration to Schools: Clear, Limited Roles for Police
Protecting students’ civil rights and limiting overly harsh discipline are the goals of new guidelines on school policing.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Signs of Hope in Discouraged Times—a New Citizenship Movement?
In a discouraging time, stirrings of a new movement for citizenship and civic education are signs of hope. The youth civic empowerment and civic education initiative Public Achievement illustrates, as does the new field of Civic Studies, centered on citizens as co-creators, and new congressional legislation.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Colin Kaepernick and Every Marching Band Director in America
Every school music teacher in America has wrestled with the national anthem. Hard to sing (covering an octave and a fifth), written in an unfriendly key signature, lyrically confounding and attached to a disreputable tune, it nevertheless maintains a strange hold on public sentiment. We expect to hear it, for some hard to trace reason, every Friday night at football games, and a raft of other occasions. We expect citizens to show reverence for this music (although singing the words is considered optional, even embarrassing).
Equity & Diversity
Report: Justice Department to Sue Georgia Over Special Education School Network
The Justice Department will take action against Georgia after eight months of fruitless negotiations over a state network of schools for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.
Equity & Diversity
Ed. Dept. Releases ADHD Guidance to Commemorate ADA Anniversary
The guidance, released on the 26th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, reminds schools of their obligations to students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Equity & Diversity
Refugees in Pa. District Denied Access to Adequate Education, Lawsuit Argues
The lawsuit claims the Lancaster, Pa., school system is shortchanging refugee students in their late teens and early 20s who are English-learners.