Nearly 150 Civil Rights and Education Groups to DeVos: Leave Discipline Guidance in Place

WASHINGTON—Today, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 145 local, state, and national civil and human rights and education groups sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos opposing any changes to or rescission of the 2014 school discipline guidance developed and released jointly by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice.

The letter comes after DeVos’ testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee where members of Congress questioned her commitment to the civil rights of children of color. The guidance describes schools’ obligations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer discipline in a nondiscriminatory manner.

The groups write that rescission of the guidance would send the message that the “department does not care that schools are discriminating against children of color by disproportionately kicking them out of school and that the department does not see itself as having a role in helping educators create and maintain safe schools that afford all students equal educational opportunities.”

The letter can be read in its entirety 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 and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.