The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has had a busy year, according to recent reports. In the first nine days of August alone, the agency released reports on alleged instances of anti-Semitic discrimination at Drexel University in Philadelphia, sexual harassment of students in the San Diego Unified School District, and Title IX violations involving high school softball players in Minneapolis who were denied equal access to sports facilities.
These cases are just a few examples of the many K-12 schools and colleges that have faced allegations of discrimination. The U.S. Department of Education website highlights 15 such cases since January 10th, with seven involving anti-Semitism.
During a presentation at City Club in Cleveland, Ohio on August 16th, Catherine Lhamon, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the department, revealed that OCR received a record-breaking 19,201 complaints last year. This number is double what it was a decade ago and nearly triple the total from 2003.
Lhamon emphasized that this surge in complaints is partly due to school leaders’ misunderstanding of Constitutional free speech protections. Many fear violating someone’s First Amendment rights and therefore fail to address escalating situations.
However, Lhamon stressed that schools still have an obligation to ensure that speech does not create or contribute to a hostile environment based on shared ancestry. Schools must evaluate potential violations and take steps to prevent ongoing hostility.
OCR recently investigated 253 complaints regarding sexual harassment in San Diego public schools dating back to 2017. The investigation found that district leaders failed to follow proper procedures when responding to employee or student harassment claims.
In one instance mentioned by Lhamon during her presentation, a middle school boy with special needs allegedly groped other students without facing any consequences because he was considered “special ed.” The district superintendent acknowledged OCR’s findings and committed to following all Civil Rights guidelines moving forward.
Lhamon also highlighted other cases she worked on recently. One involved a 13-year-old African immigrant who faced relentless teasing from peers which led her grades suffering and even contemplating suicide. Another case involved school leaders ignoring video evidence showing disabled students being ridiculed and physically attacked.
In another incident this summer at a community college, OCR found that administrators did not adequately address an inappropriate request made by a professor who asked female students in his class to remove their shirts for demonstration purposes.
Accordingly with OCR’s annual report from last year: disabilities accounted for 35% of complaints filed; race and national origin accounted for 18%; age accounted for only 3%; while sex-related complaints made up the largest portion at 42%, although over half were filed by one individual alone out of more than eight thousand total sex-related complaints filed last year.