Betsy DeVos will scale back civil rights enforcement by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights because they take too much time.
“The Department of Education is scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at the nation’s public schools and universities, easing off mandates imposed by the Obama administration that the new leadership says have bogged down the agency.
“According to an internal memo issued by Candice E. Jackson, the acting head of the department’s office for civil rights, requirements that investigators broaden their inquiries to identify systemic issues and whole classes of victims will be scaled back. Also, regional offices will no longer be required to alert department officials in Washington of all highly sensitive complaints on issues such as the disproportionate disciplining of minority students and the mishandling of sexual assaults on college campuses.
“The new directives are the first steps taken under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reshape her agency’s approach to civil rights enforcement, which was bolstered while President Barack Obama was in office. The efforts during Mr. Obama’s administration resulted in far-reaching investigations and resolutions that required schools and colleges to overhaul policies addressing a number of civil rights concerns.
“That approach sent complaints soaring, and the civil rights office found itself understaffed and struggling to meet the department’s stated goal of closing cases within 180 days.
The office’s processing times have “skyrocketed,” the Education Department spokeswoman, Liz Hill, said, adding that its backlog of cases has “exploded.” The new guidelines were to ensure that “every individual complainant gets the care and attention they deserve,” she said.”
Of course, the ED has $1 million a month for DeVos’s Security detail. Money well-spent, in her eyes.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
this reads like an April Fools joke…………
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we are getting dead serious in st. louis……June 16, 2017
Brian Kisida receives NEA grant to study outcomes of arts …wow! I thought this guy was all educationNext and billionaire Sinquefield stuff, but if the nea is…..wait…..it is not the national education association, those nasty union thugs. It is National endowment for the arts. Well…arts are good. Trump wants them cut…..so rah rah for his 90.000 dollars.
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Good Grief! DeVoodoo, “Drumph” and company are just plain out of their minds. The words “mean and nasty” and “stupid greedy” This is outright IMMORAL and RECKLESS is at new high. Unbelievable.
These actions bespeaks of an evil administration so corrupt and callous, the insanity and corruption in the WH must be deafening.
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For each forward step in previous administrations, we will now take three steps backwards. We are abandoning Ruby Bridges and all the gallant Americans who have fought for equal access to education.
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Just think, a million dollars a month to protect the Secreterie of Edukashun from grizzly bears. But it is difficult for me to picture the Arne Duncan Department of Education protecting Civil Rights. I thought Arne Duncan felt that iPads for testing were “The Civil Rights Movement of the 21st century.” Huh. Are you sure that Civil Rights Office wasn’t going after teachers for test scores? Maybe some witch hunts? I guess Betsy doesn’t think it was, or she’d have kept it going. Simply confusing.
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I would think the teachers & unions would be thrilled about this one. As OCR complaints are many times in regards to complaints of violation of FAPE issues relating to 504 and other educational issues.
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Actually, teachers and unions (not that I speak for everyone, I don’t) welcome more regulation as it protects us and our students. We’re usually the ones fighting for more support for our students, especially 504s and other IEPs. We’re there at those IEP meetings to work together with you to help your children. More teachers for smaller classes and better individualized, personal attention, more aides, more resources more fairly allocated, more instruction time via less wasted standardized testing time, less oppressive testing, more teacher training and more job stability to make the training pay off in the long run as well as the short… Thank teachers unions. We work for you!
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LCT- Nope, more times than not, staff complain about attending meetings and those “over-involved or pushy” parents that expect that their children will be provided with the correct instructional methods to learn how to read, write and do math with grade level proficiency.
But instead, in the majority of cases, students are rarely provided effective remedial instruction to close the gaps or supports and services to level the playing field.
Instead of closing the gap, they prefer to modify down the curriculum forever. Add to that, the fact that schools get extra funds for those on IEPs, and they have no incentive to close the gap.
And if you want me to send you thousands of examples, I’m up for the challenge of connecting you with families that can tell you that what you describe is not their experience in dealing with the schools and teachers and adminstrators as a “team.”
(And more and more families have been turning to OCR to investigate and resolve FAPE issues because it is more effective route of enacting the changes needed than they were experiencing using the Procedural Safeguard process under IDEA.)
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M,
Don’t bother going to OCR. DeVos doesn’t care about Sped kids
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M,
I like meeting with involved parents who support their children’s educations. Sometimes it’s challenging, but always worthwhile. I’m sure you try not to be too pushy when meeting with teachers. You surely know it’s good when teachers and parents can work with each other, not against each other. Regarding instruction most effective at overcoming challenges, I definitely prefer creating a modified curriculum to a remedial class. With integration/mainstreaming and a curriculum modified to involve multiple modes of communication and problem solving, gaps narrow. With remedial instruction or segregation/restrictive environments, gaps widen. Also, I am thankful to work at a public school that accepts students with special needs. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Diane,
Betsy only looks out for one group of people, hers.
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Diane,
Our expereince (and that of many other families I know) is that neither do the public schools care about remediating SpecEd students. It’s easy enough to just collect the extra funding for them and let them languish, because they’ve already predetermined it’s not worth their efforts when they can just continue to modify down the curriculum and pass them through or warehouse the students out elsewhere.
So I guess it will once again be no different from what we were experiencing using the Procedural Safeguard Process or the state complaint process then, eh?
Time will tell I guess just how badly the students & families lose yet again under this administration….
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M,
You have been complaining on my blog for months. Why don’t you go to a charter school? Do something. Don’t expect help from DeVos. She’s cutting staff at OCR.
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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2014/11/03/brittany-lovejoy-dealing-dyslexia/18271427/
Ok, so I’m totally off the mark and parents such as myself or this parent in this articale are just totally blowing the problems we are experiencing out of proportion? Is that what you and Dr R are telling us?
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M,
No one on this blog can solve your problem. Hire a lawyer. Go to an advocacy group. Try the ACLU. Send your child to a charter. Complaining on this blog solves no problem.
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Seriously? That is your response? Are you not all educators?
That response is a cop out and just demonstrates that those in the forefront of education could care less about helping to resolve the struggles students are experiencing day in, day out, year in, year out, for decades and into post secondary life.
Why do parents have to send their children to schools that do not help them to achieve to their cognitive potential?
These students are in the classrooms that so many of your followers are all responsible for!
Does anyone comprehend the connection????
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M,
I am sorry for your trouble, but what do you expect to happen in the comments section of this blog? Get a lawyer. Go to the ACLU. Get help. All you can get here is words. Post your actual name and email if you want a response.
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Isn’t this the main reason that Eva Moskowitz adores Betsy DeVos so much and why Ms. Moskowitz felt so compelled to spend her valuable time fighting and urging Senators to approve Betsy Devos for the good of the kids?
“….regional offices will no longer be required to alert department officials in Washington of all highly sensitive complaints on issues such as the disproportionate disciplining of minority students…”
If THIS is not the main reason that Eva Moskowitz spent so much time and resources promoting DeVos as Secy of Education, then I do not know what else it could be? I don’t think Moskowitz’ schools discriminate against gay students unless they happen to be at-risk kids who can’t learn fast enough. So it wasn’t the anti-gay agenda that was so appealing to Eva Moskowitz although it obviously didn’t bother as she worked so hard to make the DeVos agenda happen. But the pro-disciplining the minority children who Eva Moskowitz knows deserve it? She must be breaking out the champagne. And if some gay kids get thrown under the bus along with the “violent” (as Eva Moskowitz calls them) at-risk 5 year olds, well, not worth mentioning. Not a peep. And the parents at her schools remain complicit.
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https://shoptyt.com/products/cruella-devos
I’m considering purchasing one and wearing it this fall on casual Fridays…
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