Thought Leadership

Update: Texas School Districts Required to Certify Compliance with Title VI by April 23: What Does “Certification” Involve?

April 10, 2025

Today, there were two important updates regarding the new requirement that every state certify that it—and every school district in it—are complying with Title VI and the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title VI as prohibiting “illegal DEI practices.”

The post Update: Texas School Districts Required to Certify Compliance with Title VI by April 23: What Does “Certification” Involve? appeared first on Civil Rights Classroom.

ED Requires States to Certify That K12 Schools Are Not Using “DEI” to Discriminate: What it Means for Schools

April 7, 2025

Last Thursday, the Department of Education sent a letter to state K12 commissioners of education requiring that they certify compliance with Title VI by April 13, 2025, in order to continue receiving federal funds. What it says—and what it does not—has significant implications for K12 school districts across the country.

The post ED Requires States to Certify That K12 Schools Are Not Using “DEI” to Discriminate: What it Means for Schools appeared first on Civil Rights Classroom.

ED Establishes Deadline for Certifying Compliance with FERPA and PPRA: What Schools Need to Know

April 4, 2025

Last week, the Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) issued a Dear Colleague Letter to Chief State School Officers and Superintendents that requires certification of compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) by April 30, 2025. Specifically, ED is requiring each state agency to submit documentation no later than April 30, 2025, confirming that both the agency and local school districts are complying with FERPA and PPRA, particularly in relation to the identified priority concerns. We anticipate that state education agencies will provide guidance on the specific steps districts must take to demonstrate compliance.

The post ED Establishes Deadline for Certifying Compliance with FERPA and PPRA: What Schools Need to Know appeared first on Civil Rights Classroom.

The IDEA Goes to HHS?

March 25, 2025

The first three weeks of March were tumultuous for the Department of Education. On March 3, 2025, after being appointed as Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon issued a statement entitled “Our Department’s Final Mission.” The Secretary’s mission is to return authority for education to the states and eliminate “bureaucratic bloat.” On March 11, 2025, the Department of Education initiated a reduction in force of almost 50%. On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at closing the Department. And on March 21, 2025, President Trump said that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would handle “special needs.” The administration has not provided any details about the proposed transition.

The post The IDEA Goes to HHS? appeared first on Special Education Spotlight.

Final Mission or Mission Improbable? Considering the Future of the Department of Education

March 21, 2025

On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at closing the Department of Education. The Order itself does not and cannot shutter the Department, which was established by Congress. So what does the Order mean for schools?

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OCR: Schools Should Be Wary of Discriminatory AI Outputs

December 5, 2024

Artificial intelligence-enabled tools can do all sorts of helpful tasks. But AI is trained on existing (human-generated) data and language and can therefore include biases. And its methods rely on probability and can therefore include mistakes. The Department of Education’s Office of Ed Tech has useful explanations and resources in this blog post. Given these risks and the increasing use of AI in education, the Office for Civil Rights issued guidance on Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Artificial Intelligence. The guidance includes multiple scenarios that OCR advises would likely cause it to open an investigation related to potential discrimination based on disability, sex, race, national origin, or a combination of bases.

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