Title 

VI

Enforcement

Highlights

Office for Civil Rights 

U.S. Department of Education

July 2012
July 2012

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part is granted. While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the 

citation should be: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Title VI 

Enforcement Highlights, Washington, D.C., 2012. 

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The purpose of this document is to provide accurate, understandable information to the general public about the work of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). 

This document is not intended to provide official policy guidance of OCR. For 

official policy guidance of OCR, please visit www.ed.gov/ocr.

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Or write to:

U.S. Department of Education

Office for Civil Rights

LBJ Education Building

400 Maryland Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20202-1100

U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan

Secretary

Office for Civil Rights

Russlynn Ali

Assistant Secretary
“The steady movement to a more 

fair and just society plays out every 

day in the classrooms, colleges and 

universities all across America—and I 

believe that the only way to achieve 

equity in society is to achieve equity 

in the classroom.”

—Secretary Arne Duncan, July 14, 2010

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titl e V I enforcement hi g h l i g hts

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of 

race, color or national origin in programs and activities operated by recipients 

of federal funds. It states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of 

race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the 

benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity 

receiving Federal financial assistance.”

In the education arena, Title

VI’s protection applies to all 

elementary and secondary schools, 

colleges and universities—public 

or private—that receive federal 

financial assistance, and to 

certain other institutions. Its 

protection extends to all aspects 

of these institutions’ programs 

and activities. Title VI prohibits 

denial of access to college- and 

career-preparatory courses and 

programs and other educational 

opportunities, discriminatory 

discipline, harassment, and barriers 

to education for English learners.

“There’s a reason the story 

of the civil rights movement 

was written in our schools. 

There’s a reason Thurgood 

Marshall took up the cause 

of Linda Brown. There’s a reason why the Little Rock Nine 

defied a governor and a mob. 

It’s because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no better path to 

opportunity than an education that can unlock a child’s 

God-given potential.” 

—President Barack Obama, 

June 17, 2009
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As part of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ observance of the 48th anniversary of the 

passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

we celebrate the nation’s progress 

over the last half century and take 

stock of our work enforcing Title VI

over the last three years. 

We are mindful of how much work 

lies ahead. The Office for Civil Rights 

(OCR) will continue the legacy of the 

Civil Rights Act of 1964 by vigorously 

enforcing Title VI and striving to end 

illegal discrimination and ensure equal 

opportunity for all children in our nation’s schools. 

OCR has taken on tough issues arising 

under Title VI to enforce its protections on behalf of students of many 

backgrounds across the United States. 

In doing so, we have used the following tools: 

 

Policy Guidance: OCR issues detailed policy 

guidance documents to help schools, colleges 

and the public understand what Title VI and 

other civil rights laws require. These documents, which we send to institutions around 

the country, address the legal requirements and 

considerations governing situations frequently 

encountered by schools. They provide recommendations for how institutions can meet their 

legal obligations. Since January, 2009, OCR has 

issued nine such documents, three of which address topics related to Title VI: (1) how schools 

and colleges may voluntarily pursue diversity, 

including racial diversity, in their student bodies and, in the case of K-12 schools, avoid racial 

isolation; (2) the equal right of every child in 

the United States to a public elementary and 

secondary education regardless of his or her 

citizenship or immigration status or the status of 

his or her parents or guardians; and (3) schools’ 

obligations to respond to bullying and harassment based on race, color, or national origin.

Enforcement: OCR investigates allegations 

of discrimination and, as needed, obtains robust remedies that address the root causes of 

the discrimination. OCR’s resolutions seek to 

equip educators, parents and communities to 

pursue educational equity as intended by Title VI. 

Almost 600 OCR team members lead this work 

from our headquarters and 12 regional offices 

around the country. 

Complaints and Proactive Investigations: In the last 

three fiscal years,1 OCR received nearly 5,500 

Title VI-related complaints—more than ever 

before in a three-year period—and launched 
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over 55 systemic, proactive investigations that, 

collectively, address a broad range of Title VIrelated issues in institutions across the nation.

Technical Assistance: Educators, as well as parents 

and students, must have the knowledge and skills 

to identify discrimination, to prevent it, and to 

address it or get help when it does occur. Every year, OCR provides technical assistance to 

schools and communities around the country on 

both longstanding and emerging civil rights issues. 

In the first six months of FY 2012 alone, OCR 

delivered 47 technical assistance presentations on 

Title VI-related issues.

Enforcing Title VI

This document highlights a small sample of 

OCR’s Title VI work on the following issues:

■ Comparable Educationa l Opportunities (Including Collegeand Career-Preparatory courses and

Programs): Promoting equitable access to 

educational resources for all students, regardless of race, color or national origin. This 

includes strong teachers and leaders, as well 

as courses and other opportunities students 

need in order to be prepared for college and 

successful careers. 

■ Discriminatory Discipline: Ensuring 

that students are not subjected to discipline 

differently on the basis of race, color or national origin. 

■ Harassment (Including Bullying 

that Rises to the Level of Harassment):

Requiring schools and colleges to prevent 

and address harassment on the basis of race, 

color or national origin.

■ Barriers to Education for English Learners: Ensuring equal educational opportunities for students learning English.

■ Equal Rights of All Children to 

Attend Public School: Affirming the 

equal right of all children in the U.S., regardless of their immigration status, race, color or 

national origin, to attend public elementary 

and secondary school. 

■ Racial Diversity: Supporting school 

districts, colleges and universities that voluntarily pursue diversity and, at the K-12 level, 

strive to avoid racial isolation within the 

framework of Title VI and the U.S. Constitution; and enforcing legal remedies for illegal 

racial segregation at the K-12 and postsecondary levels.

Issues* Raised in Title VI Allegations

FY 2009, 2010, 2011

Academic Grading

Admissions

Assignment of Students

Desegregation

Discipline

Employment

English Learners

Exlcusion/Different Treatment

Extracurricular Activities

Financial Assistance/Retention

Graduation Requirements

Minorities in Special Ed

Other

Racial Harassment

Recruitment

Resource Equity & Compatibility

Retaliation

STEM/College- & Career-Ready

* A single complaint can raise multiple issues; therefore the total number of issues raised will exeed 

the number of complaints received.

 Source: OCR

469

273

131

14

894

552

206

1,086

108

218

107

19

432

1,158

5

202

1,205

39

483
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Equal Access to Comparable Educational Opportunities 

(Including College- and Career-Preparatory Programs) 

While all students may not choose to go to college, Title VI requires that 

schools and school districts give students of every race, color and national origin 

an equal opportunity to make and pursue that choice. Yet students of color and 

English learners often lack opportunities to participate in challenging academic 

courses with quality instruction and, as a result, are less likely to be prepared 

for college and successful careers. 

The proportion of African Americans 

and Hispanics with high school or college 

degrees has risen significantly since 1964, 

but these numbers remain far too low – 

for African Americans, Hispanics, and all 

students. 

■ Eighty-five percent of African Americans and 

64 percent of Hispanics over age 24 have high 

school diplomas – compared to 92 percent of 

whites of that age group. 

■ Similarly, 20 percent of African Americans and 14 

percent of Hispanics over age 24 have bachelor’s 

degrees – compared to 34 percent of whites of 

that age group.2

 

■ The Right to Equal Treatment:

Requiring that schools and colleges treat 

students equally on the basis of race, color 

and national origin in all programmatic areas, 

including grading, representation of racial 

minorities in special education, access to 

charter and magnet schools, access to extracurricular activities, financial aid and scholarships, retaliation and employment.

■ The Transformed Civil Rights

Data Collection: Providing new 

information about schools across the 

country to improve compliance with Title VI. 

The Civil Rights Data Collection now 

covers issues ranging from access to 

college- and career-preparatory courses 

to discipline to school finances, which can 

be analyzed and disaggregated by race, 

ethnicity, English proficiency status, sex 

and disability.

““There is no work 

more important than 

preparing our students to compete and 

succeed in a global 

economy.” 

—Secretary Arne Duncan, 

September 21, 2009
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New data from the Office for Civil 

Rights’ transformed Civil Rights Data 

Collection (CRDC) reveal large opportunity gaps for children of color. 

For example, in racially diverse districts, less than a third of high schools 

serving the most Hispanic and AfricanAmerican students offer calculus 

courses; only 40 percent offer Physics; 

and only two-thirds offer Algebra II. 

And English Learners as well as Hispanic students are significantly underrepresented among students taking 

the SAT or ACT tests. 

There are signs that students in schools with fewer educational opportunities do less well 

academically—sometimes dramatically so. For example, one OCR investigation revealed an 

achievement gap between white and black students, accompanied by significant opportunity 

gaps in courses and other available resources: only 37 to 45 percent of students in predominantly African-American schools were reading at grade level, compared to 82 to 87 percent 

of students in predominantly white schools.

OCR is addressing this problem by enforcing Title VI’s requirement that all students, irrespective of race, color or national origin, must have access to comparable educational opportunities, including the strong teachers and leaders and challenging courses and programs 

“By 2020, this 

nation will once 

again have the 

highest proportion 

of college graduates in the world.”

–President Barack Obama, July 14, 2009

Unequal Access to Math and 

Science Courses

High Schools with the Highest 

Black and Hispanic Enrollment

High Schools with the Lowest 

Black and Hispanic Enrollment

Offering Algebra II Offering Physics Offering Calculus

65%

82%

40%

66%

29%

55%

0

20

40

60

80

100

Source: 2009-10 CRDC, Office for Civil Rights, 2012.
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that students need to be ready for college and 

the workforce.

Enforcement: College and Career 

Readiness OCR’s efforts to ensure equal 

access to meaningful educational opportunities 

led to 15 Title VI-related, proactive system-wide 

investigations around the country in FY 2009-11. 

These investigations involved student access 

to resources, curricula and opportunities that 

foster college and career readiness. In addition, 

OCR received nearly 40 complaints in this area 

during the same period.

In several cases, school districts were providing students in predominantly African-American 

middle and high schools with fewer or inferior 

resources and opportunities than students in 

predominantly white middle and high schools. 

As part of its investigations into whether these 

resource differentials were discriminatory, OCR 

has found inequities that include the following :

■ A number of cases have revealed, among other inequities, racial disparities in the availability of and enrollment in Advanced Placement 

(AP), college credit, gifted and talented and 

other higher-level courses, as well as appropriate counseling on taking such courses. In 

one district, African-American students were 

encouraged to enroll in an ethnic literature 

course rather than an AP course based on 

the belief that the students would “connect 

better” and “be more comfortable” in the 

ethnic literature class. In another, students 

from a predominantly African-American high 

school had to find their own transportation 

to travel to AP classes off-site, or take such 

classes online, while students at the predominantly white high school could take AP 

classes on-site.

■ Issues raised in other cases include access 

to instructional equipment and interactive 

technology such as smart boards and wellfunctioning computers in labs, classrooms 

and libraries—along with staff dedicated to 

computer and technology support. One 

predominantly African-American high school 

failed to fully deliver a single AP science 

course with a lab due to the absence of 

necessary lab equipment.

■ Among the issues raised in other cases is access 

to better and more up-to-date library collections and textbooks. In one recent investigation, the average publication date of the U.S. history books in the libraries of the predominantly 

African-American schools was 1986.

In such cases, OCR seeks to ensure that school 

districts take steps to accelerate closing the 

achievement gap between students of different racial or ethnic backgrounds, such as the 

following:

■ Expanding access to technology and library 

materials. 

■ Ensuring fair access to gifted and talented 

programs. 

■ Addressing gaps in language proficiency.

■ Improving staff attendance.

■ Providing staff professional development in 

academic subjects and cultural competency.

■ Providing “wraparound” social services. 
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One agreement provided for a first-of-its-kind 

community school in a predominantly AfricanAmerican neighborhood that will provide wraparound health and social services and serve as a 

pilot project for other neighborhoods.

OCR’s resolutions also focus on strengthening 

the “pipeline” of rigorous academic preparation that allows students to graduate from high 

school ready for college or careers, through 

measures such as the following:

■ A review of course enrollment policies and 

recordkeeping practices to ensure equal access, quicker identification of disparities, and 

transparency to the public.

■ Improved strategies to encourage middle and 

high school students to participate in pre-AP, 

AP and other higher-level courses.

■ Steps to ensure that the availability of higherlevel curricula, including AP courses, is comparable throughout the district, irrespective 

of the racial or ethnic makeup of any particular school.

■ Greater availability of rigorous, effective 

higher-level online courses.

■ Broader parental outreach concerning the 

benefits of honors, AP, and dual-enrollment 

courses.

Combatting Discriminatory 

Discipline

In many educational institutions, minority students are disciplined more 

harshly and more frequently than 

other students, resulting in serious, 

negative educational consequences, 

particularly when such students are 

excluded from school. 

As examples of these discipline disparities, 

African-American students represent 18 percent 

of students in the CRDC sample but 35 percent of students suspended once, 46 percent of 

those suspended more than once, 39 percent of 

students expelled, and 36 percent of the students arrested on public-school grounds. Latino 

students are one-and-a-half times more likely 

to be expelled than their white counterparts. 

Additionally, in districts that showed at least one 

expulsion under zero-tolerance policies, African 

Americans represent 19 percent of enrollment 

but 33 percent of the students expelled.3

 

While discipline decisions are inherently local 

decisions about classroom management and 

Disparate Discipline in Our Schools

White Hispanic Black Asian/Pacific Islander Amercian Indian 

Overall 

Enrollment

(sample)

Out-of-School 

Suspensions 

(single)

Out-of-School 

Suspensions 

(multiple)

Expulsions School-Related 

Arrests

0

20

40

60

80

100

51%

24%

18%

6%

36%

25%

35%

1%

29%

22%

46%

33%

24%

39%

36%

24%

36%

3% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% 3%

Source: 2009-10 CRDC, Office for Civil Rights, 2012.
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school culture, a district’s discipline policies, 

procedures and practices must comply with 

the requirements of Title VI. As in all cases, 

data alone do not constitute a violation of the 

civil rights laws, but large disparities in the 

rate of disciplinary sanctions imposed on students of different races give rise to concerns 

about the school environment and, in some 

cases, possible discrimination.

Enforcement: Discipline The Office for Civil 

Rights has intensified its enforcement activities to ensure that students are not disciplined 

more severely or frequently because of their 

race, color or national origin. From FY 2009 

to 2011, OCR launched 15 proactive investigations in schools with significant racial disparities 

in discipline, and an additional five in early 2012 

based on data from the most recent CRDC. Additionally, OCR received almost 900 complaints 

during FY 2009-11 brought by parents, students 

or other concerned individuals about possible 

civil rights violations involving school discipline 

systems. OCR also held two major conferences 

with the Department of Justice on issues relating 

to student discipline. 

Disparate discipline investigations have revealed 

incidents of harsher treatment of African-American students and other minority students than 

white students who commit similar infractions 

and who have similar discipline histories. These 

cases reveal school climates in which the expectations and consequences regarding typical 

juvenile behavior and misbehavior are significantly more severe for African-American and other 

minority children.

■ In one high school, for example, two students 

with similar discipline histories were found 

to have engaged in “Unauthorized Use of 

Electronic Devices.” A white student was assigned detention for using headphones after 

having been told repeatedly to put them away. 

An African-American student, however, was 

assigned a one-day suspension for using a cell 

phone and iPod.

■ In a middle school, two students, also with 

similar disciplinary histories, were punished 

for inappropriate language. A white student 

said “shut the f*** up” and was assigned lunch 

detention. An African-American student, on 

the other hand, said “suck my d***” and was 

suspended for one day.

■ Two students engaged in a pushing incident 

with each other at school, and a security officer took them to the office. Although the 

students had similar disciplinary histories, 

the white student received three days in-
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school suspension, while the Native American student was arrested by the police and 

received a 10-day out-of-school suspension.

■ In another case, school administrators used 

their discretionary authority to impose 

harsher punishments than the student code 

normally called for on African-American 

students as compared with similarly situated 

white students, with a frequency that 

statistical analysis showed was virtually 

impossible to have occurred by chance. 

In one instance, an African-American 

kindergartner was given a five-day suspension 

for setting off a fire alarm, while a white 9thgrader in the same district was suspended 

for one day for the same offense.

In resolving disparate discipline investigations, 

OCR works with school districts to design 

far-reaching remedies appropriate to the facts 

and circumstances of each case. The goal is to 

ensure that all students are provided schools 

that are safe and conducive to learning. In 

order to eradicate root causes of inequities, 

OCR may require districts to undertake steps 

such as the following:

■ Working with an expert reviewing and modifying disciplinary policies to ensure that rules 

are clearly defined and easily understood by 

students, staff and parents and that school 

authorities consider alternatives to expulsion and suspension to keep students in the 

classroom.

■ Developing and implementing strategies for 

teaching positive student behavior.

■ Ensuring that school staff have appropriate 

resources and training in order to effectively 

manage classrooms and school campuses

■ Providing supports for struggling students, 

including access to mentors, counselors, 

behavior interventionists or student 

advocates.

■ Implementing school climate surveys for 

students, parents, and school staff to measure 

their perceptions of school safety and fairness 

in discipline, as well as their understanding of 

disciplinary rules and behavioral expectations.

■ Creating the position of discipline coordinator who is responsible for ensuring that the 

implementation of the district’s policies is 

fair and equitable and addressing complaints 

from parents, guardians, students and others 

regarding the implementation of the district’s disciplinary policies.

■ Collecting and evaluating data regarding all 

referrals for student discipline, including 

those that did not result in the imposition 

of disciplinary sanctions and referrals to law 

enforcement, at all district schools.

◆ The new record-keeping system will 

include demographic information on 

all students involved (race, sex, disability and English-learner status), as well 

as numerous other indicators. Each 

record will contain a detailed description of the misconduct, a description of 

all approaches that were attempted in 

order to address the behavior at issue 

prior to referral for discipline, identification of witnesses of the incident, 

prior disciplinary history of the stu-
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dent, sanction imposed, whether the 

student was transferred to an alternative school or to a different school site 

as a sanction, and whether the student 

was arrested as a result of the incident.

■ Providing regular informational programs 

to families and students to explain behavior 

expectations, present discipline data, advise 

them of the availability of a discipline coordinator, and invite discussion of how the 

process is working.

Preventing and Addressing 

Harassment, Including Bullying 

that Rises to the Level of 

Harassment

All students have the right to learn in an environment free from harassment and bullying based on 

their race, color, or national origin. Harassment 

of students, whether at the K-12 or postsecondary level, can have profound educational, emotional and physical consequences for the harassed 

students and their peers. Harassing conduct may 

take many forms, including bullying and namecalling, graphic and written statements, or other 

kinds of physical or verbal conduct that may be 

threatening, harmful, or humiliating. OCR seeks 

to eradicate discriminatory harassment and create environments in which students of all racial 

and ethnic backgrounds are safe to learn.

Policy Guidance: Harassment The Department issued groundbreaking policy guidance in 

Supportive School Discipline 

Initiative 

A Joint Effort between the Departments 

of Education and Justice

The Departments of Education and Justice joined 

forces in July, 2011 to address discipline policies that 

push students out of school and into the juvenile 

justice system — the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Our 

Supportive School Discipline Initiative brings together 

federal partners, foundations, nonprofits, state and 

local stakeholders, education and justice practitioners 

and advocates, and researchers to collaborate and coordinate efforts to improve school discipline practices 

and to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. 

The departments are pursuing four main strategies: 

building consensus for action and reform through a 

partnership with the Council of State Governments; 

researching and evaluating trends and alternative strategies; issuing joint guidance to clarify federal policies 

and statutes relevant to school discipline practices and 

their impact on student access to educational services; 

and increasing awareness, leadership, and resources for 

technical assistance in this area. 

One of the Initiative’s projects is to develop a school 

discipline “toolkit” of resources that practitioners 

need to develop effective behavior management practices and reduce reliance on suspensions, expulsions, 

and school-based arrests. Further, the Department of 

Education will soon launch a web-based community of 

practice comprising state-level education and justice 

stakeholders to heighten awareness of this critical issue and provide opportunities for states to share best 

practices.
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2010 explaining that, when bullying or other harassment based on race, color or national origin 

creates a hostile environment serious enough to 

limit or interfere with a student’s ability to benefit 

from opportunities offered by a school, the harassment violates Title VI. If an institution knows 

or has reason to know about student-on-student 

harassment, Title VI requires that the school take 

immediate and effective action to eliminate the 

harassment, prevent its recurrence, and, where 

appropriate, address its effects on the harassed 

student and the school community. OCR’s policy 

guidance provides examples of harassment and 

illustrates how a school should respond in each 

case. (The policy guidance also addresses harassment based on sex and disability, which is covered 

by the other statutes OCR enforces.) 

The guidance also takes the important step of 

recognizing that harassment against students of a 

particular religion may violate Title VI. Although 

Title VI does not prohibit religious discrimination, members of religious groups who are 

subjected to harassment on the basis of their national origin, including their actual or perceived 

ancestry or ethnic characteristics, are protected 

by Title VI. For example, bullying of Muslim or 

Jewish students may be based not merely on 

religious bias, but also on bias relating to the 

students’ perceived ethnic or national origin. 

Schools thus must determine whether harassment against members of religious groups is also 

discrimination based on race, color or national 

origin, and, if so, meet their Title VI obligations in 

addressing such harassment.

Enforcement: Harassment Of the over 

5,500 Title VI-related complaints OCR has received in the last three fiscal years, more than a 

fifth pertained to harassment. During this same 

period, OCR has also launched four proactive 

systemic investigations of harassment based on 

race, color or national origin. 

OCR investigations have addressed allegations 

of pervasive, severe and persistent harassment. 

Examples include the following:

■ Epithets scrawled on school walls (for example, swastikas scrawled on walls at a university 

housing complex) and expressed verbally to 

students (calling African-American students 

“n***”, Arab students “sand n***” and Jewish 

students “dirty Jew”) and other derogatory 

and offensive comments (African-American 

students being told by other students to “pick 

cotton” and that “my people owned your 

people,” Somali students being called “free 

loaders” who do not work and receive “unfair 

privileges” such as time off to pray and being 

allowed to wear religious head garb in school).
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■ White high school students dressing in “hiphop” attire and referring to one of homecoming week’s dress-up days as “wigger day”.

■ University fraternity members hosting an 

off-campus party advertised as a celebration 

of Black History Month using African-American stereotypes.

◆ Participants were encouraged to attend in stereotypical garb, and some 

were observed at the party in blackface; additionally, a noose and a Ku 

Klux Klan-style hood were displayed 

at the school.

■ High school students publicizing “Kick a Jew 

Day” on Facebook and other social media, 

and kicking Jewish students and making 

anti-Semitic remarks and gestures to them, 

including Nazi salutes.

◆ OCR found the bullying in this case to 

be harassment on the basis of national 

origin based on perceived ancestry 

and ethnicity.

Resolutions OCR has resolved such complaints 

against schools and colleges through the development of innovative initiatives against racial 

harassment. These resolutions are designed to 

foster school environments in which harassment 

and bullying are not tolerated and where any 

harassment is promptly and effectively addressed. 

Resolutions often call for annual surveys of the 

school climate, revision of school policies, and 

better training for staff and students designed to 

reduce harassment and to promote tolerance 

and respect for other people and cultures. In 

addition, agreements require districts to provide, where appropriate, individual remedies for 

victims, such as counseling and academic support 

services. OCR works with schools to engage the 

whole school community in addressing problems 

such as harassment to help build a strong, lasting 

culture of respect and tolerance. Resolutions also 

require the creation of working groups of parents, 

students and school officials to provide on-theground feedback to the school on harassment 

issues. OCR also requires measures to allow 

OCR and the school to assess over time whether 

the school’s efforts are effectively preventing 

and redressing racial harassment. An institution 

will not be released from monitoring until OCR 

determines this is the case.

In an agreement negotiated with a major state 

university, the university agreed to provide 

$330,000 in additional annual funding for outreach and retention programs, with the goal of 

recruiting students from historically underrepresented groups and providing support and assistance to help retain those students after they 

enroll. In addition, the university agreed to 
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establish a task force to identify best practices 

for the recruitment, support, and retention of 

faculty from underrepresented groups.

OCR has also provided extensive technical assistance to school districts, colleges and universities across the country on harassment-related 

issues. In one city, Asian-American students 

suffered pervasive acts of harassment, including 

an incident in which approximately 30 AsianAmerican high school students were attacked, 

leading many to be sent to the emergency room. 

OCR is now working with other federal and 

local organizations, including the Department of 

Justice’s Community Relations Service, to conduct student workshops at secondary schools in 

that city and others that are experiencing racial 

or inter-group tensions.

Ensuring Equal Opportunities 

for English Learners

Children whose first language is not English 

(English learners or EL students) require language supports in order to meaningfully participate in school. Title VI requires that elementary 

and secondary schools take affirmative steps to 

ensure that English learners overcome language 

barriers and can effectively participate in their 

schools’ educational programs. A school district 

must implement a sound educational approach in 

its programs for EL students and show that it is 

teaching EL students English and providing them 

with access to the district’s curriculum. 

Title VI also requires schools to adequately 

communicate with limited-English-speaking 

parents about important school-related information in languages they can understand. 

Enforcement: English Learners OCR has 

sought to dramatically improve language assistance services and programs for EL students in 

communities across the country, so that limited 

English proficiency is not an obstacle for these 

students to fully access the school’s educational 

opportunities. Over the past three years, OCR 

has launched 21 proactive, systemic investigations relating to EL programs and services. 

OCR has received over 200 complaints alleging 

discrimination against EL students.

OCR cases show that EL students and families 

are sometimes denied the language services 

they need to fully access school opportunities. 

Examples of the problems OCR has addressed 

include the following:

■ School districts, and in one case an entire 

state, improperly excluded students from English language acquisition services because surveys or testing instruments did not consider 

critical factors such as the language students 

speak at home or a student’s distinct needs in 

writing, reading, speaking and listening. 

■ A school district in which only 3 percent of 

the district’s EL high school students were 

performing at grade level in both math and 

English language arts failed to provide an effective program for English language development and meaningful access to the core 

curricular content for EL students.

◆ EL students were expected to acquire full proficiency in English in six 
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years. However, 75 percent of those 

students did not meet this goal, and 

after they exited the EL program the 

vast majority of these students did 

not have support classes or a curriculum designed to address their 

language deficits. Rather, they were 

left to languish in programs taught in 

English, unable to access core content and therefore failing and repeating courses. 

◆ Parents of EL students did not understand how the EL program worked, 

and translation and interpretation 

services were sometimes inaccurate. 

■ A school district failed, for more than five 

years, to identify EL students and led parents 

to believe that they had to “opt out” of EL services for their children if they wanted them to 

enroll in particular schools or programs.

◆ While 10,500 students in the district

were receiving EL services, even 

more students – 11,000 – had been 

improperly denied such services.

■ A school district failed to implement an

effective process for identifying and meeting 

the language assistance needs of its limitedEnglish proficiency parents to ensure they 

received important information about their 

children’s education – despite the fact that 

nearly 60 percent of the district’s 11,000 students identified their home language as Arabic.

■ Charter schools and charter management 

organizations showed low enrollment of EL

students and students with disabilities.

◆ Proactive reviews of such schools are 

addressing a number of issues, including whether they have non-discriminatory recruitment and admission 

policies and practices with regard to 

EL students and students with disabilities, whether they provide equal 

educational opportunities to such 

students, and whether they adequately communicate with limited-English 

speaking parents.

Resolutions OCR obtains robust, systemic 

resolutions to help ensure that schools are 

meeting their Title VI obligations with respect to 

EL students by requiring measures such as the 

following:

■ Testing English proficiency in each of the 

four language domains of speaking, listening, 

reading and writing.

■ Providing EL students – in some cases, 

thousands in a single district – with language 

assistance services to enable them to access 

their core content classes, such as math, 

social studies and science.

■ Delivering English language development 

instruction to EL students.

■ Offering compensatory services to students 

who were improperly denied services and 

have not made adequate progress as a result.

■ Helping students exit from language assistance programs, when appropriate.

■ Evaluating the success of districts’ EL programs 

in teaching students English and enabling them 

to perform academically at grade level.

■ Implementing the means to communicate 

with limited-English speaking parents so that 

they can make informed decisions regarding 

their children’s education.
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■ Clarifying that federal law does not require 

or condone a state to discriminatorily remove teachers who were not native English 

speakers under the state’s claim that their 

English was heavily accented. As a result, the 

state now focuses its monitoring on whether a teacher has been certified by the local 

district as fluent in English.

■ For charter schools or special programs 

that have discriminatorily denied EL students 

access, revising admission and recruitment 

policies and practices to ensure that EL

students are not denied admission based 

on their national origin, tailoring recruitment and outreach to EL students and their 

parents, and ensuring that EL students can 

access core curriculum and appropriate 

language assistance and instruction. 

Technical Assistance OCR has also provided hundreds of technical assistance presentations over the 

last three years to parents, educators, administrators and community members that have included 

information on the obligations schools have under 

Title VI to provide EL students with support and 

opportunities and to communicate effectively with 

parents whose primary language is not English. This 

work has included numerous technical assistance 

activities with state-level officials.

Equal Rights of All Children to 

Attend Public School Regardless 

of Immigration or Citizenship 

Status

Policy Guidance: Equal Right to Attend 

School The Department issued policy guidance 

with the Department of Justice affirming the 

equal right of every child in the United States 

to a public elementary and secondary education 

regardless of his or her citizenship or immigration status or the status of his or her parents 

or guardians. As the guidance explains, this right 

was established in a landmark 1982 case called 

Plyler v. Doe, in which the Supreme Court stated 

that denying “innocent children” access to a 

public education “imposes a lifetime of hardship 

on a discrete class of children not accountable 

for their disabling status.” 4

The guidance makes clear that schools’ enrollment policies and practices must be consistent 

with Title VI’s prohibition against discrimination 

based on race, color, or national origin. It also 

provides examples of permissible and impermissible enrollment practices to help districts and 

states meet this responsibility as well as examples 

of the types of information that may not be used 

as a basis for denying a child enrollment in a public elementary or secondary school. For example, 
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school districts that require children to establish 

age during the enrollment process should accept 

as proof a variety of different documents, including foreign birth certificates. The guidance notes 

that school districts that have proof-of-residency 

requirements might include utility bills or rental 

receipts among the accepted documents, but 

should not include requests for immigration papers, because such documents are not necessary 

to establish residency in the district. Moreover, 

any proof of age or residency requirements must 

be uniformly applied to all students.

Enforcement: Equal Right to Attend 

School OCR has addressed allegations of districts discriminating on the basis of race, color 

and national origin in the way they improperly 

focused on the immigration status of parents 

and students. 

■ In one case, OCR hosted a town hall meeting 

for the parents of English learners residing in 

a district. During the meeting, which was also 

attended by a school district representative, 

OCR informed parents of their rights under 

Title VI and of the district’s responsibilities 

to provide services to students who are 

English learners. A Dominican mother with 

limited English proficiency explained to OCR 

that she was required to provide immigration papers while registering her child for 

school, even though they were irrelevant to 

the district’s informational needs. The forms 

she was given were also in English, which 

she could not read. This raised a question 

as to whether the district was meeting its 

obligation to provide adequate assistance to 

limited-English proficient parents. She filed a 

complaint immediately after the meeting with 

OCR. As a result of the town hall meeting, the district official committed to making 

sure that registration forms were available in 

Spanish. OCR is investigating other issues the 

parent raised.

■ In another case, a school district allegedly 

asked Hispanic parents for proof of residency, 

social security cards, and driver’s licenses 

when they came to enroll their children, 

despite the fact that the district had a policy 

allowing 30 days to prove residency. The district agreed with OCR to change its procedures to clarify that all students had 30 days 

to prove residency. It also agreed to translate residency documents into Spanish, and to 

accept an expanded list of documents, including an affidavit, to serve as proof of residency.

■ In a third case, the complainant alleged that 

a school district discriminated against Latino 

students in the enrollment process, including by asking a Latino student who presented 

proof of residency to also provide a passport 

and immigrant visa prior to enrolling in a high 

school. School staff allegedly made comments to the student such as “how can you 

be here without a passport or visa?” and “you 

must be an illegal.” The case was resolved 

with a district commitment to review and, if 

necessary, revise its registration documents 
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T I T L E V I E N F O R C E M E N T H I G H L I G H T S

to make clear that immigration documents 

and passports are not required for enrollment and to provide annual training for staff 

on proper enrollment procedures using 

OCR’s guidance documents on this issue.

Supporting Schools, Districts 

and Colleges that Voluntarily 

Pursue Racial Diversity

Many educators believe – and the Supreme 

Court has affirmed – that schools and colleges 

have compelling interests in pursuing diverse 

student bodies. The benefits of diverse learning environments are many – for example, they 

help students sharpen their critical thinking and 

analytical skills; they prepare students to succeed 

in an increasingly diverse and interconnected 

world; they break down stereotypes and reduce 

bias; and they enable schools to fulfill their role 

in opening doors for students of all backgrounds. 

Yet many of America’s schools remain racially 

isolated; indeed, research has shown that America’s schools have been growing more segregated 

since the 1980s.5

Policy Guidance: Voluntary Pursuit of 

Racial Diversity To increase clarity on this 

important issue, OCR withdrew previously issued guidance that did not fully explain the legal 

options available to schools and colleges that 

choose to pursue diversity, and in December, 

2011 issued new guidance jointly with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The 

two-part guidance—one for K-12 schools and 

one for postsecondary institutions—explains the 

Supreme Court decisions that provide the legal 

framework for the consideration of race and national origin by educational institutions in pursuit 

of diversity and avoiding racial isolation.

As a starting point, the guidance recognizes that 

schools and colleges have a compelling interest 

in increasing diversity. Institutions do not have 

to wear blinders – they can look at whether 

their decisions will deprive students of the opportunity to learn and interact with students of 

other races and national origins, and they can 

affirmatively make decisions to increase diversity. The guidance goes on to offer concrete 

examples of how the Supreme Court’s legal 

framework applies to specific techniques for 

achieving diversity.

The K-12 guidance indicates how school districts can pursue diversity and reduce racial 

isolation through their decisions on locating 

schools, including magnet schools, and specialized academic, athletic or extracurricular programs; closing schools or programs; aligning 

grade and feeder patterns; drawing attendance 

zone lines; and designing inter- and intra-district 

transfer systems.

Similarly, the postsecondary guidance offers ways 

for colleges and universities to pursue diversity 

through admissions, pipeline programs, recruitment, outreach, mentoring, tutoring, retention, 

and student support programs.

The choice as to whether to pursue diversity 

and reduce racial isolation lies with educational 
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and civic leaders. OCR is ready to help educational leaders who make this choice.

Enforcement: Voluntary Pursuit of Racial Diversity OCR investigates and resolves a 

broad range of cases involving challenges to the 

use of race or national origin to help achieve diversity at the K-12 and postsecondary levels and 

in combatting racial isolation at the K-12 level. In 

addition, OCR investigates allegations that certain 

institutions covertly and discriminatorily consider 

race or national origin in their decision-making. 

At the K-12 level, OCR’s cases address whether 

public school districts have lawfully considered 

race in student assignment to schools, K-12 

admissions processes, school assignment lotteries, school zoning, closures and site selection, 

and student recruitment, mentoring and support 

programs. 

In one K-12 case, OCR determined that the use 

of family income, parental education and residence in a zip code with concentrated poverty 

to select students for admission to unique public 

school programs in order to achieve the benefits of socioeconomic diversity was not racial 

discrimination, even though these criteria correlated with race. 

OCR also plays a critical role in the administration of the Magnet School Assistance Program 

(MSAP). Congress has appropriated $100 million annually to support school districts’ efforts 

to create magnet schools that will attract racially 

diverse student populations and thus eliminate, 

reduce, or prevent minority racial isolation. No 

grant may be awarded until OCR determines 

that the applying school district will not discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin 

(as well as religion, sex or disability) in pursuing its diversity and other goals. In these cases, 

OCR provides technical assistance concerning 

the lawful paths to diversity and avoiding or 

reducing racial isolation. 

Cases at the higher education level address 

whether colleges are legally pursuing diversity by 

considering race or national origin in admissions, 

financial aid programs and student recruitment, 

mentoring and support programs. In all such 

complaints, OCR acknowledges the compelling 

institutional interest in the educational benefits 

of diversity. Specific complaints involve the following questions:

■ Whether a highly selective university discriminatorily utilized a tougher admission 

standard for Asian-American applicants.
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■ Whether an urban university’s mentoring 

and support program that focused on African-American males was open to all without 

admitting or excluding students on the basis 

of their race, one of the ways a race-themed 

mentoring and support program is permissible under Title VI. 

■ Whether a university admissions system that 

considered an applicant’s race to achieve the 

compelling educational benefits of diversity 

did so in a narrowly tailored manner, consistent with Supreme Court decisions.

■ Whether the use of institutional or thirdparty scholarships for students of color in 

order to further campus diversity complies 

with Title VI as interpreted by OCR’s 1994 

Financial Aid Guidance. OCR’s guidance affirms each institution’s right to use financial 

aid to pursue compelling diversity interests, 

and explains that scholarships limited to 

students of particular races or national 

origin are defensible so long as the opportunity to receive financial aid is narrowly 

tailored as required by Supreme Court 

precedent.

In each of these cases, OCR has acknowledged 

the school’s or college’s compelling interests 

in the benefits of diversity in the classroom, in 

avoiding racial isolation at the K-12 level, and in 

the preparation of future leaders as necessary to 

fulfilling their missions. So long as these institutions stay within the bounds of the law provided 

by the Supreme Court, as explained by the OCR 

and Department of Justice guidance, their efforts 

at diversity and avoiding racial isolation will not 

be found to violate Title VI.

Technical Assistance OCR’s Title VI enforcement 

efforts also include technical assistance regarding Title VI standards addressing the permissible consideration of race or national origin to 

achieve diversity or reduce racial isolation in 

accordance with OCR’s 2011 Guidance.

Enforcing Longstanding Desegregation 

Orders Building on the Supreme Court’s Brown 

v. Board of Education6 decision, Congress enacted 

Title VI to outlaw racial segregation and other 

forms of discrimination. From the law’s passage in 

1964 through the 1970s, OCR placed a primary 

emphasis on eliminating unconstitutional segregation in the Southern and Border states in elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools. 

OCR investigations also found that school 

districts in other regions violated Title VI through 

the operation of intentionally segregated, dual 

school systems. The hallmark of unlawful racial 

segregation was state-imposed racially separate 

schools and programs that were often accompanied by denials of equal educational resources and 

opportunities for African-American students. 

As at the K-12 level, states operated racially 

segregated systems of higher education that 

barred African Americans from enrolling in white 

institutions – while providing inferior opportunities through public Historically Black Colleges 

and Universities that were constrained by limited 

missions, inadequate state resources, and other 

substantial forms of discrimination. Beginning in 
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the late 1960s, OCR required formerly de jure

segregated state systems of higher education to 

submit plans to desegregate traditionally white 

institutions and to end the states’ denial of equal 

opportunities for students attending HBCUs.

Under Title VI standards informed by Supreme 

Court decisions and interpreted in OCR policy, 

OCR requires public schools and state systems 

of higher education to eliminate the vestiges of 

past intentional segregation of students based on 

race. OCR leads investigations and collaborations 

to ensure that previously segregated schools and 

districts take action to further racial desegregation. In keeping with its historical mission, OCR 

also investigates complaints that institutions are 

segregating students or offering them separate 

and unequal educational resources or opportunities on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

K-12 Desegregation of Schools, Resources and 

Opportunities At the K-12 level, OCR’s enforcement of Title VI to stop segregation of schools, 

programs, resources and opportunities by race 

and national origin has included actions such as 

the following:

■ At the request of a school district seeking 

to avoid violating its longstanding desegregation plan by opening a new, nearly all-white 

charter school, OCR helped devise a plan 

to ensure that the new school increased its 

African-American student enrollment, staff, 

leadership and governance as well as its 

outreach and recruitment in the district’s 

growing Latino community. Failure to meet 

the minority enrollment, staff, leadership 

and governance targets could jeopardize the 

continued existence of the school.

◆ Minority parents, concerned about 

this possibility, pleaded with OCR to 

ensure the continued existence of the 

school, stating that the school was the 

best opportunity for their children. 

◆ Today, the charter school has increased its population of minority 

students and is on track to meet the 

goals of its desegregation agreement.

■ OCR also helped a district under a longstanding desegregation plan to revise its 

approach to opening a new high school that 

would have been over 80 percent AfricanAmerican (in contrast with district-wide 

enrollment of 34 percent African-American)

◆ The revised plan combatted racial 

segregation and resource disparities by providing all students at the 

new school a range of programs 

and activities comparable to those 

provided at the district’s other high 

schools, implementing research-based 

programs to improve completion and 

drop-out rates, and offering a soughtafter early college program at the 

school that would attract students 

throughout the district.

◆ This program, offered in conjunction 

with a local college, will allow students 

at the high school to earn associate 

degrees in a variety of high-demand 
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fields (including electronics/telecommunications, design technology, criminal 

justice, and health sciences) at the same 

time as their high school diplomas.

◆ The new high school recently received 

a $100,000 grant from an international 

company that develops educational 

tools, technologies and services for 

use by school districts. The company 

will create a high-tech center to develop equipment, hardware and software, 

as well as furniture tailored to the 

technology, at the new high school. 

Moreover, the high school will house 

a sophisticated education technology 

classroom.

◆ As a result of the programs implemented at the new high school, the 

enrollment of white students has 

steadily increased.

■ OCR has enforced desegregation plans by 

addressing allegations that school 

districts’ assignment policies and creation of new facilities violated their 

duty to make assignment decisions 

that further racial desegregation and 

do not perpetuate the vestiges of 

racial segregation.

■ OCR investigates allegations that 

changes in school assignment criteria 

discriminate against students of color.

■ The agency investigates allegations 

that school districts have closed and 

merged schools in a racially discriminatory manner and illegally burdened or 

disadvantaged African-American and Latino 

students in the process.

■ OCR investigates the exclusion of AfricanAmerican children from an allegedly “white 

only general education kindergarten class.

In each of these cases, OCR ensures that institutions are aware of the compelling educational 

benefits of diversity and, at the K-12 level, avoiding racial isolation, as well as the opportunity to 

pursue these benefits through a range of actions, 

including the lawful consideration of race and 

national origin.

Higher Education Desegregation At the postsecondary level, in recent years, OCR has renewed 

its commitment to enforce longstanding higher 

education desegregation plans that were adopted 

by six states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, 

Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas) that previously ran de 

jure segregated higher education systems. OCR 

is committed to actively monitoring the progress 

of these states in implementing their agreements 
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and eliminating the vestiges of state-imposed 

segregation. OCR’s reinvigorated monitoring has 

shown positive results.

 

In one state, duplication of high-demand professional and doctoral programs at a Historically 

Black College or University and Traditionally 

White Institutions has been a significant problem. OCR is working with the state higher 

education system and the HBCU’s officials to 

develop a plan to offset unnecessary program 

duplication by developing new, unique HBCU

programs, among other means. Importantly, 

after OCR raised concerns, the state adopted a 

new regulation requiring that all new programs 

be analyzed to prevent unnecessary program 

duplication.

OCR sent letters to five of the governors of 

states with higher education desegregation plans 

reminding them of their obligations to provide 

sufficient funding to their HBCUs, notwithstanding potential higher education budget cuts in their 

states. After the governors received the letters, 

the final budgets of at least two states cut less 

funds from HBCUs than was originally proposed 

– in one state, an additional $2 million was budgeted for an HBCU. 

In another state, the HBCU’s operational funding, capital funding, accreditation and facilities 

have been major concerns during the monitoring of the state’s 1998 agreement with OCR. 

Following a number of OCR visits to the 

HBCU and discussions with the state’s board of 

higher education, the state approved $19 million from the capital budget for the construction of a new student university center, resolving one of the major outstanding commitments 

from the 1998 agreement.

The Right to Equal Treatment

Under Title VI, OCR works to ensure equal access 

to education services and benefits and to prevent 

acts of retaliation against those who report Title 

VI violations. Title VI prohibits treating individuals 

differently on the basis of race, color or national 

origin when providing services or benefits.

Enforcement: Equal Treatment OCR has 

investigated allegations of different treatment of 

students based on race, color, or national origin 

and addressed allegations of the denial of access 

to academic programs and extracurricular activities. Examples at the K-12 level include:

■ Minority students not being able to participate in certain academic programs, receiving inaccurate grades and being denied the 

opportunity to participate on athletic teams.
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■ Minority students receiving unequal access 

to charter and magnet schools or to special 

education services in such schools.

■ Minority students being inappropriately and 

disproportionately categorized as mentally 

retarded, emotionally disturbed and learning 

disabled.

Possible remedies for cases like the above include 

grade corrections, opportunities to participate in 

denied programs, compensation for lost opportunities, active encouragement of excluded minority 

students to enroll and participate in the programs 

at issue, and review of improper special education 

determinations.

At the postsecondary level, OCR has examined 

claims that students, on the basis of race, color or 

national origin, have received different treatment 

or been denied access in the following areas:

■ Admissions – such as a claim that a Native 

American or a Hispanic student was denied 

admission because of race or national origin. 

■ Registration – such as a claim that an AsianAmerican student was not registered for 

classes as promptly as other students based 

on race. 

■ Benefits – such as a claim that an AfricanAmerican student was treated rudely and 

dismissively based on race when seeking 

tutoring services. 

■ Programs and Activities – such as claims that 

students were forced to withdraw or were 

dismissed from programs and activities because of their race, color or national origin.

Possible remedies for cases like the above include 

admission or readmission of the student, reimbursement for tuition and expenses, staff training 

and letters of apology.

The Transformed Civil Rights 

Data Collection: New Information to Improve Compliance 

With Title VI

Information and transparency about disparities 

in educational opportunities and resources are 

powerful tools to aid schools and school districts 

in improving schools. The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) includes many new indicators on 

the educational experiences of students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, including more 

data on high school course offerings, course taking, 

discipline and resource distribution at the school 

and district level. For the 2011-12 school year 

collection (to be released in 2013), the CRDC will 

include every school and district in the nation.

Some of the key findings include the following: 

College and Career Readiness

■ African-American students represent 16 

percent of the enrollment in schools offering 

calculus but only 9 percent of the students 

taking calculus. 

■ Hispanic students represent 21 percent 

of enrollment in high school but only 13 

percent of students passing at least one 

Advanced Placement (AP) exam. 

■ Less than a third of high schools serving 

the most Hispanic and African-American 

students offer Calculus and only 40 percent 

offer Physics.
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Retention 

■ African Americans represent 16 percent of 

students in grades 6 to 8 but 42 percent of 

the students held back a year.

Gifted and Talented Education Participation

■ Hispanic students represent 25 percent of enrollment in districts offering gifted and talented 

education programs but only 16 percent of the 

students enrolled in such programs.

English Learners 

■ Of the students enrolled in Algebra I, 18 

percent of EL students were enrolled in 

Algebra I in grades 7 and 8, compared to 29 

percent of non-EL students.

Resources and Teachers

■ Schools serving the most African-American 

and Hispanic students are nearly twice as 

likely to employ teachers who are newest to 

the profession.

■ In schools with the lowest African-American 

and Hispanic enrollment, 8 percent of teachers are in their first or second year of learning compared to 15 percent in schools with 

the highest African-American and Hispanic 

enrollment.

■ In racially diverse districts, teachers at elementary schools serving the most African-American and Hispanic students are paid on average 

$2,251 less per year than their colleagues 

in elementary schools that serve the fewest 

Hispanic and African-American students.

Discipline

■ African-American students are over 31⁄2 

times more likely, and Hispanic students 

11⁄2 times more likely, to be suspended or 

expelled than their white peers.

■ Of the 1700 school districts reporting zero 

tolerance policies, 49 districts, accounting 

for only 14 percent of the total enrollment 

of zero-tolerance districts, are responsible 

for nearly 50 percent of the expulsions.

■ African-American students represent 19 

percent of the students in zero-tolerance 

districts but 33 percent of the students 

expelled from those districts.

CRDC indicators are now capable of being crosscut by race, English learner status, disability status 

and sex, revealing, for example, that although 

more males are disciplined by every measure 

(e.g., male and female students each represent 

about half the student population, and males 

Amercian Indian Asian/Pacific Islander Black Hispanic White

Males Females 0

5

10

15

20

12%

3%

20%

9%

7% 6%

11%

1%

4% 3%

Percent of Students Receiving an 

Out-of-School Suspension

Source: 2009-10 CRDC, Office for Civil Rights, 2012.
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make up 74 percent of the students expelled), 

African-American girls are suspended at higher 

rates than boys of most other races.

■ African-American students represent 21 

percent of students with disabilities but 44 

percent of disabled students subjected to 

mechanical restraint.

While data alone cannot be a substitute for the 

thorough investigation necessary to establish 

violations of civil rights laws, this wealth of new 

data should help schools, districts and communities deepen their self-analysis and understanding 

of where change is needed.

Endnotes

1 Each federal fiscal year runs from October to 

September. For example, “fiscal year 2011,” or 

“FY 2011,” runs from October 2010 to September 2011.

2 Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for 

Education Statistics, 2011 Tables and Figures. Available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d11/

tables/dt11_008.asp. 

3 2009-2010 Civil Rights Data Collection.

4 Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 223 (1982).

5 Gary Orfield, Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge 12-13 (The Civil Rights 

Project 2009). 

6 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
Office for Civil Rights Mission:

To ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout 

the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. 

U.S. Department of Education

Office for Civil Rights

Lyndon Baines Johnson Department 

of Education Building

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202-1100

Customer Service: 800-421-3481

TDD: 877-521-2172 

Fax: 202-245-6840

http://www.ed.gov/ocr 

Email: OCR@ed.gov

OCR’s Goals:

• Protect individual complainants’ civil rights through the complaint investigation and 

resolution process.

• Identify and eliminate any systemic violations of civil rights laws through proactive compliance reviews.

• Increase students’ and their families’ awareness of students’ civil rights by releasing policy guidance and providing technical assistance and outreach services.

• Record-keeping and monitoring requirements that promote accurate and immediate identification and 

resolution of harassment-related issues, patterns and problems.

• Increase schools’, colleges’ and universities’ understanding of their civil rights obligations by releasing policy 

guidance documents and providing technical assistance and outreach services

The Department of Education’s 

mission is to promote student

achievement and preparation for 

global competitiveness by fostering 

educational excellence and

ensuring equal access.

www.ed.gov