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Today, on the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) joined his colleagues in Democratic leadership to unveil a resolution to affirm support for disparate impact analysis as an enforcement tool of Title VI under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The resolution also calls on the Trump administration to fully enforce federal civil rights law to advance equal opportunity in education. Ranking Member Nadler announced this resolution at a forum he co-hosted with Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Below are Ranking Member Nadler’s remarks at the forum, as prepared for delivery:

“Good afternoon. I am pleased to join my friend, the Ranking Member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, as we delve into educational equity issues in the wake of No Child Left Behind.  Those of you who are Hill veterans will recall the many years that Representative Scott and I sat beside one another on the Judiciary Committee dais to debate and defend issues on the Constitution, civil rights and civil liberties. 

“Earlier today, we introduced a resolution to affirm Congress’s intent for the Trump Administration to fully enforce federal civil rights laws that advance equal opportunity in education. I hope this is the first of many efforts together in our roles as Ranking Members on the Education and the Workforce and Judiciary Committees.

“As we meet today, on the 64^th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, we are reminded of both, historically, the progress in addressing racial inequality in our education system and, more contemporaneously, just how much work still needs to be done.  By one reckoning, the Browndecision was an epic victory in the fight for equality.  By another, it signaled a school-by-school effort to advance educational achievement for minority students, culminating with the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“More than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, education issues still generate partisan controversy and have the power to divide communities.  Under the Trump administration, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has begun dismissing hundreds of civil rights complaints under a new protocol that allows investigators to disregard cases that are part of serial filings or that they consider burdensome to the office.  She has also rescinded Obama-era guidelines that have prodded colleges and universities to more aggressively investigate campus sexual assaults.  She has further threatened to rescind other important Obama-era guidelines that have proved critical to protecting students, like the 2014 School Discipline Guidance, that we will discuss later.

“We are joined today by the Government Accountability Office and other experts to highlight important research around resegregation and school discipline. In 2016, the GAO found that schools were resegregating at alarming rates and, just last month, the GAO found that students of color suffer harsher punishment in school than their peers.  In the face of mounting challenges faced by students of color as the Trump Administration attempts to roll back critical civil rights protections, Congress must remain vigilant to address these problems and to check the Trump Administration’s abuses. Our students deserve no less.”

BACKGROUND:

The original co-sponsors for the resolution include Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (MD-05), Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (SC-06), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Cedric Richmond (LA-02), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01), and additional Democratic Members of Congress.

On April 4, 2018, Ranking Members Scott and Nadler released a GAO report entitled, “Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities.” This report found that Black students, boys, and students with disabilities are disproportionately disciplined in K-12 public schools. This pattern of disproportionate discipline persists regardless of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of public school students attend. To read more about this report, click here.

On May 17, 2016, Committees on the Judiciary and Education and the Workforce Democrats unveiled a GAO report entitled, “K-12 EDUCATION: Better Use of Information Could Help Agencies Identify Disparities and Address Racial Discrimination.” This report confirmed that increasing segregation along the lines of race and poverty continue to be a driver for inequities in education. The report identified actions needed to reduce racial and socioeconomic segregation, and addressed disparities in K-12 public schools. To read more about this report, click here.

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