Title: 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.
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
Reaffirms the House of Representatives' commitment to ensuring that American educational systems prepare all students for college and careers regardless of their race, color, or national origin.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 902 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 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 Office 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.

    (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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that the 
        educational systems of the United States prepare all students 
        for college and career regardless of their race, color, or 
        national origin;
            (2) recognizes that the Office for Civil Rights of the 
        Department of Education and the Civil Rights Division of the 
        Department of Justice have an obligation to enforce title VI of 
        the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations;
            (3) expects the Department of Education and the Department 
        of Justice to enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
        and its implementing regulations, as they have done in the past 
        under Democratic and Republican administrations, using all 
        legal theories, including different treatment and disparate 
        impact, given the growing evidence that racial discrimination 
        in education continues;
            (4) will hold oversight hearings to ensure that the 
        Department of Education and the Department of Justice enforce 
        title VI of the of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its 
        implementing regulations, including enforcement with respect to 
        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
            (5) commits to considering H.R. 2486, the Equity and 
        Inclusion Enforcement Act, a bill that restores the title VI 
        right to individual civil actions in cases involving disparate 
        impact, creates title VI monitors to ensure that every school 
        has at least one employee responsible for investigating any 
        complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national 
        origin, and creates a position of Assistant Secretary in the 
        Department of Education to coordinate and promote title VI 
        enforcement of equity and inclusion in education.
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