Educational department rejects thousands of complaints about civil rights within a few months

The Education Department has rejected complaints about civil rights at such a rate that was concerned with former officials and lawyers of civil rights. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Education Department is responsible for investigating discrimination based on race, color, sex, disability and national descent.

As reported for the first time by PoliticsThe OCR of the Education Department more than 3,000 rejected Complaints about civil rights between 11 March and 27 June. The Department confirmed the dismissal in judicial documents, who have raised questions about honesty and enforcement.

OCR received 4,833 complaints, opened 309 for research and opened 26 targeted investigations. Judicial documents show that nearly 100 of the complaints were resolved due to insufficient evidence during the investigation. An additional 290 complaints were resolved by voluntary agreements, settlements or technical assistance.

What has changed within the OCR

The rejected cases come amid the closure of seven regional offices within the Civil Rights division of the Ministry of Education. Subsequently, mass closures led to massive dismissals, because the Trump administration continues to prioritize reducing the federal workforce. Only five offices are open openly.

“The students and schools of the country deserve a robust federal enforcement agency for civil rights that is fully equipped and prepared to maintain the full range of rights in law,” said Catherine Lhamon, the civil rights leader of the department under former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, said Politics In a statement. “The own data report of the Trump administration shows that it has decimated its assets to perform its legal duties to the detriment of rights at school.”

During the BIDEN administration, the OCR just closed around 2,527 complaints in the last three months of the administration. More than 400 cases led to formal agreements that required policy changes, 146 were resolved by means of mediation and more than 100 were concluded after researchers found no evidence of violations.

Proponents of civil rights say that they are concerned about the priorities of the Trump government and claim that the Trump administration interprets federal civil rights laws that tackle sex-based discrimination, discrimination based on race, national origin and shared origin other than its predecessor.

However, a spokesperson for the OCR says that his recent actions match the federal laws.

“OCR has taken unprecedented steps to streamline its functions according to the question: for example, amid a growing volume of title IX complaints, OCR has collaborated with the Ministry of Justice to investigate gender-based discrimination claims,” ​​said agency spokesperson Julie Hartman Politics. “The daily performance of OCR under the Trump government refuting the unbridled anxiety munger through irresponsible media, and show that OCR powerfully maintains its responsibilities to protect the civil rights of all Americans.”

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