Today, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson urged lawmakers to safeguard access to high-quality, inclusive, and equitable public education by fulfilling Brown v. Board’s promise in testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, particularly in the wake of recent threats by the Trump Administration.
“Public education is not only critical to creating pathways for all to meaningfully participate in our economy but is essential to defending our multiracial democracy,” Ms. Nelson said during the hearing. “Unfortunately, rather than setting forth a policy agenda that protects students’ constitutional rights and provides equal educational opportunities, the current administration has prioritized legislation and executive action that may further deny access to a quality education for all students.”
In her testimony, Ms. Nelson addressed growing concerns about the future of public education in the face of recent threats, including the current administration’s actions to dismantle key civil rights protections in education and funnel funding into school privatization. Ms. Nelson called on Congress to vehemently reject efforts to shirk federal responsibility in public education, including those aimed at dismantling the Department of Education and upending the critical civil rights oversight it provides.
“Public schools in America must deliver quality education for all regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, disability, religion, or any other identifying characteristic,” said Ms. Nelson in the hearing. “Decades of resistance to Brown’s mandate of desegregation, coupled with poor education policy, have resulted in critically underfunded school systems and under- achieving schools. Congress must fulfill the promise of Brown by supporting a public education system that welcomes, includes, and is safe for all and provides equitable high quality academic instruction. Likewise, Congress must guard against attacks on public education like the privatization of public education, the rolling back of civil rights protections in the classroom, and the erosion of the Education Department’s funding and responsibilities.”
“Education is a civil right and a public good for all,” Ms. Nelson concluded. “Congress must not abandon the project and promise of equal access to free, quality public education in the U.S. by siphoning funding to private entities and furthering harmful racial disparities among future generations of American students.”
LDF has long advocated for equal access to education for all. As the organization that litigated and won Brown v. Board of Education, LDF is committed to realizing its promise by working tirelessly to advance educational equity and ensure that all students have access to a safe, inclusive, and high-quality education.
To read Ms. Nelson’s full testimony as written, please access it here.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
