Parents say federal cuts have slowed civil rights investigations

NPR

Amy Cupp says that after weeks of trying to get G’s school to change the way it handled her daughter’s behavior, she filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, which investigates discrimination in schools. That office recently lost more than 40% of its staff after the Trump administration launched a massive downsizing of the department. Now, Cupp and other parents say their civil rights complaints aren’t being investigated. Last week, Cupp joined a lawsuit that aims to force the federal government to act on complaints like hers. The lawsuit claims the layoffs have undermined OCR’s “ability to fulfill its statutory and regulatory mandate to enforce civil rights laws in schools.” “I just can’t fathom that anybody would cut something so vital,” says Cupp, a devout Christian. She says she voted for President Trump and thought he shared her beliefs. “But I can’t understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, because that is not what God would intend.”

Related Posts

Support Medicaid, Protect Children with Disabilities

When Congress returns next week, the House and Senate will dive headlong into negotiations to develop the budget reconciliation package intended to support corporate tax cuts. To pay for the tax extensions, some Congressional Republicans have targeted Medicaid for...

read more

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *