New Education Civil Rights Data Must Be a Call to Action — Equal Opportunity Now! 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mattie Goldman, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement on the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) reflecting data from the 2020-21 school year:

“In order to provide all children with a quality education free from discrimination, we need clear and accessible data that show us what is happening in our schools. Today’s release of the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) provides important information about where action and attention is needed from educators, advocates, policymakers, and the Office for Civil Rights. Every child deserves to be safe, healthy, and included in well-resourced schools that prepare them for college, careers, and life. With this critical data collection, everyone can see where those opportunities are — and aren’t — available. While the incompleteness of the data is a reminder of the significant effects of COVID disruptions in the lives of children, it is also a call to action for more frequent and comprehensive data about our schools. To solve a problem, we need to be able to measure it. 

“Once again we see that too many children — more than 140,000 — attend schools where there are sworn law enforcement officers but no counselor, social worker, nurse, or psychologist. It is time to create learning environments of support and wellness, not criminalization and pushout. These data also show that higher level courses like calculus are less available for students in schools with more Black and Latino students, reinforcing what we have long known about race-based barriers to higher education. With the Supreme Court’s recent attack on affirmative action, the case for action is even greater now than before. We have the information. We have the tools. And now it is time for action.”

To look up information about the schools in your community, visit civilrightsdata.ed.gov.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 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.

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