Opinion
Federal Letter to the Editor

Proposed Changes to CRDC Would Hide Troubling Disparities

January 21, 2020 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is proposing to eliminate nearly 30 data points from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), including data pertaining to teacher experience, school finance, and advanced coursework (“Clashing Views On Civil Rights Data Proposal,” Nov. 27, 2019). Should these data points disappear, so, too, does the transparency families and communities want and need to be better informed about the quality of schools they desire and support. Research has underscored the importance of teacher experience to student success. Without the CRDC data, we would not know that the percentage of teachers in their first year of teaching is twice as high in school districts with the highest concentrations of Black and Latino students compared to school districts with the lowest percentages of Black or Latino students.

Research also shows that school funding influences student achievement, yet the U.S. Department of Education is proposing to eliminate all data collection related to school finance. Without the CRDC data, we would not know that a salary gap of at least $5,000 exists in nearly one quarter of school districts between educators working in high schools serving the highest and lowest percentages of Black and Latino students. We measure what matters. This proposal from the Department of Education sends an unfortunate message regarding the interest and intention of the federal government to maintain its historic role of ensuring all students have access to a high-quality education. It would hide troubling disparities in access to experienced teachers, necessary resources, rigorous coursework, and other inputs necessary for all students to graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in whatever comes next.

I urge Secretary DeVos to reconsider this proposal and restore these and other data elements proposed for elimination.

Deborah S. Delisle

President

Alliance for Excellent Education

Washington, D.C.

A version of this article appeared in the January 22, 2020 edition of Education Week as Proposed Changes to CRDC Would Hide Troubling Disparities

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Biden Admin. Warns Schools to Protect Students From Antisemitism, Islamophobia
The U.S. Department of Education released a "Dear Colleague" letter reminding schools of their obligation to address discrimination.
3 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview in his office at the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Federal What Educators Should Know About Mike Johnson, New Speaker of the House
Johnson has supported restructuring federal education funding, as well as socially conservative policies that have become GOP priorities.
4 min read
House Speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Republicans eagerly elected Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Johnson has a supported a number of conservative Republican education priorities in his time in Congress.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal America's Children Don't Have a Federal Right to Education. Will That Ever Change?
An education scholar is launching a new research and advocacy institute to make the case for a federal right to education.
6 min read
Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
Julia Davis, University of Virginia School of Law
Federal Q&A Miguel Cardona: There's No 'Magic Strategy' to Help Students Get Back on Track
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he's focused on supporting schools on work they're already doing to help students achieve.
8 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023, in Washington. In an interview with Education Week, Cardona said "there hasn’t been another president in our lifetime that has spoken so much on providing dollars for education but also having education be central to the growth of this country."
Mark Schiefelbein/AP