Civil and Human Rights Coalition Responds to Education Department’s Release of Draft ESSA Regulations

WASHINGTON – Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement in response to the Department of Education’s release of draft regulations under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA):

“Without meaningful enforcement, laws are just words on paper. Our support for this reauthorization of the pre-eminent civil rights education law was contingent on the Department retaining the authority to actually enforce it on behalf of marginalized students.

The civil rights community fought hard to preserve this authority and earlier this year we joined with nearly 50 partners to reinforce that call. Senator Murray and Congressman Scott have shown outstanding leadership on this issue and we thank them for their commitment to preserving ESSA’s civil rights legacy. 

While we review this new regulation with our national and local partners, we look forward to seeing the Secretary’s continued commitment to ensuring ESSA works for low-income students, students of color, English learners, students with disabilities and other students who are too often left behind.”  

Nancy Zirkin is the executive vice president and director of policy at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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