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In just three months, the U.S. Department of Education dismissed over 3,000 civil rights complaints
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ending investigations into alleged discrimination in schools across the country. A July court filing confirmed this move, drawing questions about how federal laws are being
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enforced and how students are being protected. These cases were handled by the Office for
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Civil Rights, which typically investigates discrimination based on issues like race, sex and disabilities. The mass dismissals followed the March closure of seven regional offices
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and hundreds of layoffs, leaving only five offices open. A judge later ordered some workers
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reinstated to help with the backlog. Advocates say the administration is taking a much tighter
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approach to civil rights, narrowing who can file claims. Executive Director Tracy Vitchers
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with its on us said it begs the question of who is making these decisions and under what guidance or what part of the case processing manual are they using to justify it Between March and June the Office for Civil Rights got
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4,833 complaints, dismissing 3,424. The rest were settled, found lack of evidence
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or pushed to formal investigation. The department says it's streamlining processes to keep up with
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the demand, partnering with the Justice Department to speed up sex-based discrimination cases
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For comparison, during the last three months of the Biden administration, the office closed 2,527 cases, reached 449 policy agreements, mediated 146, and found no violations in 119
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Since President Trump returned, the department has focused on fighting campus anti-Semitism, cutting transgender athlete protections, and rolling back diversity efforts
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For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. For more on this story, download the Shader News mobile app or head to san.com
