Prompt concern from former officials

Mass dismissals of Education Department civil rights complaints prompt concern from former officials

The department has focused its civil rights efforts on stamping out campus antisemitism since Donald Trump returned to the White House.

By Bianca Quilantan, Rebecca Carballo and Juan Perez Jr.

The Education Department dismissed civil rights complaints at such a rapid clip this year that former officials and advocates are concerned about a core agency function amid Trump administration plans to make deep staffing cuts.

In court documents filed last week, the department disclosed that its Office for Civil Rights dismissed 3,424 complaints between March 11 and June 27 “consistent with OCR’s Case Processing Manual.” The documents state that 96 complaints were “resolved” because of insufficient evidence during an investigation — and another 290 complaints with voluntary agreements, settlements or technical assistance.

During that time period, OCR received 4,833 complaints, opened 309 for investigation and opened 26 directed investigations, according to a court declaration filed as part of a case that challenged the agency’s decision to conduct a sweeping reduction in force. Unlike most investigations, directed or self-initiated investigations are launched by the agency without someone filing a formal complaint about a school, college or university.

“The nation’s students and schools deserve a robust federal civil rights enforcement office that is fully equipped and prepared to enforce the full range of rights Congress guaranteed in law,” Catherine Lhamon, the department’s civil rights chief under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, said in a statement to POLITICO. “The Trump Administration’s own data reporting shows it has decimated its ability to fulfill its statutory duties, to the detriment of rights in school.”

The department has focused its civil rights efforts on stamping out campus antisemitism, ending protections for transgender student athletes and eliminating all traces of diversity, equity and inclusion in education since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Colleges and universities that have not adhered to Trump’s directives have had millions of dollars in federal aid frozen, become the focus of federal investigations, and faced a torrent of public criticism from Trump and congressional Republicans.

Civil rights advocates say they are concerned about the high number of dismissals because the Trump administration interprets federal civil rights laws that address sex-based discrimination and discrimination based on race, national origin and shared ancestry differently from the Biden administration.

Under Education Secretary Linda McMahon, discrimination in these categories no longer includes gender identity and LGBTQ challenges against book bans. They now include the Trump administration’s rule on how schools must respond to sexual misconduct and higher levels of scrutiny of antisemitism on campus and race-inclusive programming like affinity graduations.

The Education Department declined to answer a series of detailed questions about its civil rights work but said all of OCR’s actions align with federal law.

“OCR has taken unprecedented steps to streamline its functions according to demand: for example, amid a growing volume of Title IX complaints, OCR partnered with the Department of Justice to expeditiously investigate sex-based discrimination claims,” agency spokesperson Julie Hartman said in a statement. “OCR’s daily accomplishments under the Trump Administration disprove the rampant fear-mongering by irresponsible media, and evince that OCR is vigorously upholding its responsibilities to protect all Americans’ civil rights.”

Advocates fear this new policy agenda is taking a toll on the routine work of an office that is responsible for investigating a range of problems including campus sexual misconduct and claims of discrimination in special education.

McMahon has also pledged to enact Trump’s policies even with a slimmed down staff. Seven of the department’s 12 regional civil rights offices across the country were eliminated during the massive reduction in force in March. Those offices are in Boston, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco and Philadelphia. A federal judge in Massachusetts, however, ordered those workers be called back, saying the mass layoffs “leaves OCR with the capacity to address only a small fraction of the complaints that it receives.”

By contrast, during the last three months of the Biden administration, OCR dismissed 2,527 cases, resolved 449 with resolution agreements for change, secured 146 successful mediations, and determined there was no violation in 119 cases.

The difference between the number of mediated or voluntary resolution cases recorded in the last three months of the Biden administration when compared to the number of resolutions disclosed by the Trump administration within three months earlier this year “reflects a shocking diminution of work output from the office,” Lhamon said.

One former agency official, granted anonymity due to fear of retaliation from the Trump administration, was stunned by the new data.

“That amount of dismissals in a three month period is unheard of,” the former official, who worked in OCR and was at the department for about 20 years, said. “If they dismiss that amount of cases in a matter of three months, then they’re not following the procedures. What it sounds like they’re doing to me is they’re just dismissing cases that they don’t want to take the time to investigate, or put the resources into.”

There are few instances where the office will dismiss a complaint, they said. If the complaint doesn’t have enough information and OCR can’t get in touch with the person who filed it, that would be grounds for dismissal. They would also dismiss a case if someone were to complain about a school that doesn’t receive federal funding and therefore doesn’t fall within OCR’s jurisdiction.

“But those types of complaints are very rare,” the former official said. “Maybe one in a thousand.”

Similar concerns about the number of dismissals emerged during the first Trump administration as the agency sought to reduce a massive backlog of cases in 2017. OCR at the time closed more than 1,500 civil rights complaints and dismissed more than 900 outright in roughly two months after issuing a directive to agency investigators.

“We should be concerned about that amount especially given the way that this administration has prioritized weaponizing civil rights laws and distorting these laws,” said Shiwali Patel, senior director of safe and inclusive schools at the National Women’s Law Center.

She said the number of dismissals signals that students and parents “can’t rely on this administration to protect them from discrimination.”