This Is What Justice Looks Like: Civil Rights Coalition Praises Biden Education Civil Rights Record, Calls for Continued Action

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

WASHINGTON — Liz King, senior director for education equity at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published its Four Year Retrospective:

“Today’s report from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights demonstrates what the American people should expect from their federal government — thorough and prompt responses to complaints of discrimination, comprehensive policy documents that support compliance with our civil rights laws, robust data collection and reporting and, above all, an Office for Civil Rights committed to protecting every student from discrimination and ensuring equal educational opportunity. This isn’t about political parties or the whims of a president — this is about what students need and deserve to learn, grow, and thrive and what our civil rights laws require. As much as was done over the last four years, we know that more is needed. In spite of campaign rhetoric and promises to discriminate, exclude, and marginalize, we will be holding President Trump, the next secretary of education, and the next assistant secretary for civil rights accountable for doing their job: ensuring the doors of education are open to all, that no one is subject to harassment or exclusion, and that unlawful discrimination results in a thorough and prompt intervention. No matter our race, where we live, or who we are, we each deserve the opportunity to learn free from discrimination.”

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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