Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Over 70 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08), House Committee on the Judiciary, Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforceand Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) reintroduced two key pieces of legislation aimed at advancing educational equity and addressing modern challenges to school integration and civil rights enforcement.

The Strength in Diversity Act, introduced with Congresswoman Jayapal, and the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act, introduced with Ranking Member Raskin, reaffirm Democrats’ commitment to the unfulfilled promise of Brown v. Board of Education.  These efforts come at a time when the Trump administration is actively dismantling federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives and weakening civil rights enforcement, including efforts to eliminate the use of disparate impact in assessing discrimination.

According to a 2022 Government Accountability Office report,  found more than one in three K-12 public school students attends a racially segregated school.  This isolation has created vast resource disparities: in 2016, schools serving predominantly students of color received $23 billion less than predominantly white schools serving the same number of students.  These inequities contribute to lower graduation rates, reduced college access, and long-term impacts on opportunity and mobility for Black and brown students.

Strength in Diversity Act of 2025

Across the country, school districts have developed innovative, community-driven strategies to address persistent segregation, ranging from magnet schools and open enrollment policies to revised feeder patterns.  However, many lack the resources to scale or sustain these efforts. 

The Strength in Diversity Act of 2025 addresses this gap by establishing a federal grant program to support voluntary, local efforts that increase diversity in schools.  It also promotes the development and dissemination of best practices in school integration.

“Seventy-one years after Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down school segregation the promise of equitable education for all children regardless of race remains unmet.  The Strength in Diversity Act would bring us one step closer to delivering on its promise of equity in education,” said Ranking Member Scott.  “This bill provides federal support to help school districts develop, implement, or expand efforts to integrate their local schools.  The legislation will also shield these resources from the whims of changing Administrations and allow communities to compile best practices for tackling segregation.  Addressing America’s legacy of racial discrimination is often uncomfortable and complicated, but we must confront – not ignore – inequities in education if we are to reckon with this legacy and close achievement gaps.” 

“Despite the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision more than 70 years ago, America’s schools are still incredibly segregated.  Schools that mainly serve students of color receive billions less in funding each year than schools whose students are mostly white,” said Representative Jayapal.  “And as Trump and Republicans work to end Title I funding and destroy the Department of Education, these disparities will only continue to get worse.  The government has a responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to a quality education and a chance to succeed, and we can do that by promoting diversity in our schools, providing the best resources available, and investing in our kids.  The Strength in Diversity Act is a bold and necessary step forward to address America’s school segregation problem and improving our education system.

Read the bill text for the Strength in Diversity Act of 2025 here. 

Read the fact sheet for the Strength in Diversity Act of 2025 here.

Read the section-by-section summary for the Strength in Diversity Act of 2025 here.

Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act of 2025

For 30 years, victims of federally funded discrimination could use Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to challenge both discriminatory policies and practices that were created with the intent to discriminate and policies and practices that, while neutral on their face, had the effect of discriminating.  However, the Supreme Court invalidated the use of disparate impact theory in Title VI cases for private citizens in 2001, and the Trump Administration is eliminating the use of disparate impact by federal entities, making it significantly harder to challenge policies that disproportionately harm students of color and other marginalized groups.  These rollbacks ignore the ongoing reality that many seemingly neutral policies such as school discipline rules or dress codes can still have deeply discriminatory effects. 

The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act of 2025 restores the right of private citizens to bring disparate impact cases, empowering families to challenge policies that result in unequal access to education.  It also requires that every school district and higher education institution designate a Title VI monitor responsible for investigating racial discrimination complaints.

“Every student in our country deserves an equal opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive in a public school system free from discrimination,” said Ranking Member Raskin.  “The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act restores a critical tool for students and families to hold schools accountable for discriminatory policies that violate federal law.  I’m proud to join Ranking Member Scott in advancing this legislation to protect the constitutional guarantee of equal educational opportunity, which is now more important than ever.”

“History has shown that robust civil rights enforcement is critical to protecting students from discrimination and closing persistent achievement gaps,” said Ranking Member Scott.  “The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act would restore the private right of action for students and parents to hold schools accountable for policies that have a disparate impact and deny students access to a quality education based on race, color or national origin.  This bill also requires that every school has a Title VI monitor to ensure prompt investigations of complaints of discrimination.  The denial of instructional hours and advance classes or the selective discipline of students of color are often the result of structural inequities in education, rather than expressed bigotry.  This bill allows impacted parents and students the right to seek remedy for these policies and biases that are in fact discriminatory, regardless of intent.”

Read the bill text for the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act of 2025 here.

Read the fact sheet for the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act of 2025 here.

Read the section-by-section summary for the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act of 2025 here.