Enforcing ‘equal outcome’
Education Secretary Arne Duncan signaled Monday the Obamaadministration’s intention to step up enforcement of civil rights lawsthat apply to schools and colleges, many of which are often ignored.
In remarks delivered in Selma, Ala, timed to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the marchesin which civil rights protesters were brutally attacked by police,Secretary Duncan said, “The truth is that, in the last decade, theOffice for Civil Rights (OCR) has not been as vigilant as it shouldhave been in combating gender and racial discrimination and protectingthe rights of individuals with disabilities.
But that is about tochange…. We are going to reinvigorate civil rights enforcement.”
In particular, Duncan discussed the Education Department’s plan toissue guidance letters to schools across the United States, as well asits intention to conduct numerous compliance reviews around issues likediscipline and equal access to educational opportunities.
He highlighted certain indicators that point to inequities existing today:
•Upon finishing high school, white students are about six times morelikely to be college-ready in biology than African-American students.In algebra, they’re four-plus times more likely.
• Just 12percent of high schools produce half the dropouts in America.Three-fourths of African-American and Latino come from those schools.
• African-American students without disabilities are more than three times as likely to be expelled as their white peers.