Civil Rights Groups Urge DeVos to Nominate Civil Rights Head and Call for Hearing on Nominee

WASHINGTON – Today, civil rights groups sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos expressing deep concern about the department’s commitment to protect all students’ civil rights in the wake of Candice Jackson’s recent appointment to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Acting Assistant Secretary. Additionally, groups sent a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Chairman Lamar Alexander, R. Tenn., and Ranking Member Patty Murray, D. Wash., urging the committee to conduct public hearings and thoroughly vet any nominee who will serve as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to ensure a record of support for civil rights law and protections for marginalized students.

Given the central role that the Department of Education and OCR play in protecting students from discrimination, and the critical decisions DeVos and the administration will make with regard to the civil rights of the nation’s students, signers urged the secretary and the administration to nominate an individual to serve as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights who believes that every student has a right to learn and be treated with dignity without discrimination.

“The recent appointment of Candice Jackson, an individual with a history of hostility toward civil rights, to serve in the Office for Civil Rights and even as Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights raises new questions about the direction of the office and the status of longstanding protections for students. In past writings, Ms. Jackson appeared to be ignorant of the history and continued presence of race and sex discrimination … In selecting an individual to serve as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, you and the president have the opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to core American values of equal opportunity, nondiscrimination, and diversity as well as a respect for the rule of law,” the letter to Ms. DeVos states.

Additionally, civil rights groups urged the Senate HELP Committee’s chairman and ranking member to conduct public hearings and thoroughly vet any nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

“The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has a unique responsibility to ensure that the Department of Education faithfully and effectively implements and enforces federal laws, protects the interests of the nation’s students, and ensures individuals nominated to serve in the department are qualified and prepared to fulfill their duties and committed to upholding federal law and the Constitution,” the letter to Alexander and Murray states. 

The letter to Secretary DeVos is available here.

The letter to the HELP Committee’s Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray is available here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is 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, visit www.civilrights.org.

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