IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 902 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the obligation 

of the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education and 

the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to enforce title 

VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2018 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HOYER, 

Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. DANNY

K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. 

SOTO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education 

and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the obligation of the Office for Civil Rights of the 

Department of Education and the Civil Rights Division 

of the Department of Justice to enforce title VI of the 

Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations, and for other purposes. 

Whereas 64 years ago, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, a unanimous Supreme Court 


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held that segregated school systems based on race are inherently unequal and violate the 14th amendment to the 

Constitution; 

Whereas the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

in part, to address ‘‘Massive Resistance’’, a collection of 

State laws passed in response to the Brown decision that 

aggressively tried to forestall and prevent school integration, and the ‘‘Declaration of Constitutional Principles’’ 

(known colloquially as the ‘‘Southern Manifesto’’) signed 

on March 12, 1956, by Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate that attacked the decision 

and opposed integrated schools; 

Whereas title VI of that law prohibits programs and activities 

that receive Federal funds from discriminating based on 

race, color, or national origin; 

Whereas former President John F. Kennedy eloquently explained the need for title VI by stating that ‘‘[s]imple 

justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers 

of all races contribute, not be spent in any fashion which 

encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or results in racial 

discrimination. Direct discrimination by Federal, State, 

or local governments is prohibited by the Constitution. 

But, indirect discrimination, through the use of Federal 

funds, is just as invidious; and it should not be necessary 

to resort to the courts to prevent each individual violation.’’; 

Whereas racial discrimination in educational systems continues, as demonstrated by, among others, a recent appellate court decision holding that a White community’s attempt to secede from a majority Black Alabama school 

district was racially discriminatory in violation of the 

Constitution, and a recent Department of Education OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR902.IH HR902

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fice for Civil Rights resolution of a complaint filed 

against Durham Public Schools in North Carolina regarding discrimination against Black students and students with disabilities in the application of school discipline requiring Durham Public Schools to take actions 

to end discriminatory discipline practices; 

Whereas recent reports by the Government Accountability Office and other national reports detail racial disparities in 

the Nation’s educational systems as follows: 

(1) The percentage of schools that are isolated by 

poverty and race increased from 9 percent during the 

2000–2001 school year to 16 percent during the 2013– 

2014 school year. 

(2) High-poverty schools that are majority Black 

and Latino are less likely to offer a range of math 

courses and such lack of access is linked to lower completion rates for higher-level math and science courses in 

high school, which is a critical component of preparing 

students for college and careers. 

(3) Only 12 percent of students took AP courses at 

high-poverty schools that are majority Black and Latino 

and offer such courses, compared to 24 percent of all students in low-poverty schools with lower Black and Latino 

enrollment. 

(4) Students of color on average have lower enrollment in prekindergarten programs, and attend lower 

quality prekindergarten programs, than their White 

peers. 

(5) Black students are disproportionately excluded 

from school, beginning as early as preschool, and students who are suspended are more likely to fail a grade, 

drop out of school, and become involved in the juvenile 

justice system. 


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(6) With few exceptions, Black students, boys, and 

students with disabilities experience disparities in the administration of school discipline, regardless of the type of 

disciplinary action, poverty level of the school, or type of 

public school attended. 

(7) Research suggests that implicit biases—stereotypes or unconscious associations that people, including 

teachers and other school staff, hold about other people— 

are a contributing factor to these discipline disparities because they cause school staff to judge students differently 

based on their race. 

Whereas the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of 

Education and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice are charged with enforcing title VI and 

its regulations, which prohibit both intentional discrimination and unintentional discrimination resulting from 

policies and practices that have a discriminatory effect, 

or disparate impact, on students based on race, color, or 

national origin; and 

Whereas the Supreme Court’s decision in Alexander v. 

Sandoval overturned four decades of statutory protections 

against discrimination by removing a private right of action under title VI to challenge disparate impact, leaving 

Federal agencies as the only entities that can enforce disparate impact regulations, a duty acknowledged by both 

Democratic and Republican administrations: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that 

3 the educational systems of the United States prepare 


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1 all students for college and career regardless of their 

2 race, color, or national origin; 

3 (2) recognizes that the Office for Civil Rights 

4 of the Department of Education and the Civil Rights 

5 Division of the Department of Justice have an obli6 gation to enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

7 1964 and its implementing regulations; 

8 (3) expects the Department of Education and 

9 the Department of Justice to enforce title VI of the 

10 Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regu11 lations, as they have done in the past under Demo12 cratic and Republican administrations, using all 

13 legal theories, including different treatment and dis14 parate impact, given the growing evidence that racial 

15 discrimination in education continues; 

16 (4) will hold oversight hearings to ensure that 

17 the Department of Education and the Department 

18 of Justice enforce title VI of the of the Civil Rights 

19 Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations, in20 cluding enforcement with respect to unintentional 

21 discrimination resulting from policies and practices 

22 that have a discriminatory effect, or disparate im23 pact, on students based on race, color, or national 

24 origin; and 


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1 (5) commits to considering H.R. 2486, the Eq2 uity and Inclusion Enforcement Act, a bill that re3 stores the title VI right to individual civil actions in 

4 cases involving disparate impact, creates title VI 

5 monitors to ensure that every school has at least one 

6 employee responsible for investigating any com7 plaints of discrimination based on race, color, or na8 tional origin, and creates a position of Assistant Sec9 retary in the Department of Education to coordinate 

10 and promote title VI enforcement of equity and in11 clusion in education. 

Æ 


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