The Philadelphia Inquirer

With its workforce slashed and most of its regional offices — including one in Philadelphia — now shuttered, the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has effectively halted investigating issues of sex-, race-, and disability-based discrimination, according to a newly filed lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed Friday by the National Center for Youth Law and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates on behalf of two parents with pending civil rights investigations, seeks to force the Department of Education to continue investigations and provide updates to a judge about its progress. Though the parents listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are not from the Philadelphia area, the OCR cuts have also worried parents locally. Eric Lowry, a father in the Lower Merion School District who has previously filed complaints alleging that Lower Merion discriminated against his daughter based on her disability, views OCR as a needed avenue for parents seeking accountability from school systems. ”Now that safety net is pretty well gone,” said Lowry, whose 2022 claim was resolved after Lower Merion agreed to make policy changes.