U.S. Education Department Reviewing Complaints About Inequities in K-12 Discipline, Supportive Services: The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has received a record 7,000 complaints and is conducting 54 compliance reviews — the vast majority of which concern elementary and secondary schools. Experts, however, say the implications for such cases reach much farther, impacting minority students’ aspirations and access to college.
At the top of the list of complaints are allegations that African-American children, boys in particular, are disciplined far more harshly than their White peers. English language learners, disabled students and children with other special needs aren’t getting the supportive services that they need, according to complaints. School districts that are found to be in noncompliance with civil rights laws risk losing their federal funding.
