The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”) submitted comments in response to the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Request for Information regarding the Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline. LDF urges OCR to urgently address school discipline practices which have resulted in racial discrimination against Black students and other students of color. OCR must vigorously enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through every tool available, including the issuance of comprehensive guidance to facilitate compliance and accountability. In the letter, LDF encourages OCR to rescind the harmful policies of the prior administration, and discuss the harm done under Trump and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, including a reduction in the number of systemic investigations into the disparate treatment of students based on race and weakening the civil rights data collection. LDF called on OCR to immediately reinstate the 2014 School Discipline Guidance Package that outlined schools’ and districts’ obligations to avoid and redress racial discrimination in the administration of school discipline and engage in a transparent process that centers community voices and civil rights to develop a more inclusive, bold agenda that is responsive to the needs of Black students, parents, educators and communities. This includes addressing police in schools, hair discrimination and the dangers of artificial intelligence and oversurveillance in schools.
Read the full comments here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization. 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. 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 NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Follow LDF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
