Education Department may narrow civil rights probes
who filed the complaint, and Galanter gave an example of would eliminate the appeals a complaint stemming from a process. white and a minority student WASHINGTON — The EducaThe d ocument is only getting into a fight, but the tion Department wants to nara draft; a final version is minority student being discirow the scope of civil rights expected to be published plined more harshly than the investigations at schools, focus- next year after suggestions white student. Under the preing on individual complaints and proposals from staff. vious procedure, OCR would rather than systemic probThe action comes as the examine that particular case lems, according to a docu- Trump administration looks but also look at whether that ment obtained by The Asso- for ways of streamlining the teacher, school or school disciated Press. work and trimming the bud- trict was engaging in other
Under the Obama adminisgets of many federal agencies. similar discriminatory behavtration, when a student com- The administration has called ior. plained of discrimination in a for a $9 billion, or 13.5 percent, “It’s a very surface level particular class or school, the cut to the education budget, fix that certainly will make education agency would exam- which would mean the loss of that particular parent happy, ine the case but also look at more than 40 employees out but isn’t fulfilling OCR’s obliwhether the incident was part of about 570 at the agency’s gation,” Galanter said. “OCR of a broader, systemic prob- Office for Civil Rights. is underfunded and underlem that needs to be fixed. The Education Department staffed and in order to get
Proposed revisions to the did not comment on the prothrough all the complaints in department’s civil rights proposed document Wednesday. some kind of timely manner, cedures, distributed last week Seth Galanter, former prin- staff is being forced to give among civil rights officials at cipal deputy assistant sec- them superficial treatment.” the department, remove the retary for human rights in Another proposed revision word “systemic” from the Obama’s Education Depart- would allow the school or guidelines. ment, criticized the proschool district to negotiate a
The changes would also posed revisions, saying the resolution agreement with allow schools a greater say in civil rights office’s key misthe agency before any findhow a case is handled, comsion is to identify and solve ings are released to the parpared to the student or parent systemic problems. ent in a letter.