Civil rights ed probes face trims

THE EDUCATION Department wants to narrow the scope of civil rights investigations at schools, focusing on individual complaints rather than systemic problems, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

Under the Obama administration, when a student complained of discrimination in a particular class or school, the education agency would examine the case but also look at whether the incident was part of a broader, systemic problem that needs to be fixed.

Proposed revisions to the department’s civil rights procedures, distributed last week among civil rights officials at the department, remove the word “systemic” from the guidelines.

The changes would also allow schools a greater say in how a case is handled, compared with the student or parent who filed the complaint, and would eliminate the appeals process.

The document is only a draft. A final version is expected to be published next year after suggestions and proposals from staff.