The University Law School’s Educational Rights Institute celebrated its one-year anniversary on Monday, highlighting the impact that Title VI, the anti-discrimination law within public institutions, has had on American education since its legalization in 1964. An event was held. The event featured two speaker panels and a keynote speech by Kathryn Ramon, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. The issue of racial disparities in educational access was discussed.
According to a press release from ERI Founder and Professor of Law and Public Affairs Kimberly Robinson, ERI aims to increase access to K-12 education in the United States and ensure that all students have access to education. It was launched in October 2023. The right to quality education. ERI works to achieve this goal by generating new research and scholarship, encouraging effective implementation of federal antidiscrimination laws, and increasing public awareness of educational inequities by expanding academic research. I’m working on it.
Robinson said ERI chose to commemorate Title VI’s anniversary because the law’s purpose to minimize education discrimination aligns with ERI’s own goals. As defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, Title VI is a law in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.
The event featured a series of guest speakers, ranging from university professors to anti-discrimination organization founders, who joined two speaker panels. The first panel discussed contemporary forms of discrimination based on race and national origin, including monolingual education, excessive teacher discipline of students of color, and unequal resources in low-income neighborhoods.
The second panel will discuss the meaning and impact of Title VI, as well as the impact of the 2023 Student for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard University President and Fellows Supreme Court case that effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions. focused. Diversity and discrimination in education.
In the first panel, Chris Chan Bacon, assistant professor in the School of Education and Human Development, said language barriers in multiracial societies are also a significant form of educational discrimination in the United States.
Although the United States does not have an official language, the majority of schools in the United States offer instruction only in English, according to Chan Bacon. Chan Bacon explains that dual language programs (curricula in which students teach core subjects, such as science or history, in two languages) are designed to both teach students another language while also teaching them subjects in a language they understand. said that it offers a promising method.
“The idea that America is monolingual is not only inaccurate, it is a myth that actively supports white and monolingual supremacy. thought [as well as] “Linguistic discrimination overlaps with other forms of racism,” said Chan Bacon. “Educational institutions, including schools, must reflect a multilingual reality. We are talking about preparing children for the real world. The real world is multilingual.”
On the second panel, Oscar Jimenez Castellanos, a professor at the University of Georgia and executive director of the Center for Latino Educational Success, agreed that monolingual education is a clear barrier to educational access, but that He said he was unsure whether it was multilingual education. Language programs solve this problem.
Jiménez Castellanos says these dual language programs are becoming increasingly elitist and are designed to help native English speakers learn the other language, not the other way around. said.
“Dual language programs exist where we can all live. [in] It’s a middle class and upper middle class community,” Jimenez-Castellanos said. “They are implemented [in these areas] And we are importing non-native English speakers to fill the gap to help native English speakers learn a second language. ”
Conversely, the second panel focused on Title VI’s many successes in supporting diverse education policies by providing public schools with access to funding and resources based on their willingness to comply with anti-discrimination regulations. I guessed. Title VI requires public schools to be able to demonstrate that they can provide a fair and nondiscriminatory education in order to receive federal funding, said Erika Frankenberg, a professor of education and demographics at Penn State University.
But opponents of affirmative action and similar programs use the They say they have used non-discrimination laws such as Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause. Lee said that in the wake of the SFFA v. Harvard decision, anti-affirmative action legislation and extremist efforts against DEI have widened the educational disparities experienced by minority students and pushed students of color closer to home. They say they are being denied accessible programs designed to integrate into predominantly white educational institutions.
“Since that decision was issued, there has been a growing movement among extremists to accept that decision, implement it, and seriously challenge any effort to address barriers to opportunity, let alone educational opportunities. There was support and excitement,” Lee said. “These extremists are really using that language to say that what we’re trying to achieve is diversity for diversity’s sake, and they’re using race as a proxy.” [to justify] discrimination. “
Mr. Ramon concluded the event by sharing the many instances of education discrimination he has encountered and faced in his role with the Office of Civil Rights.
Ramon cited numerous school districts in Utah, Texas and California where students experience harassment, bullying and physical abuse based on their race or national origin. According to Ramon, these districts are making systemic changes to help these public agencies maintain federal funding in accordance with Title VI mandates, and OCR to improve administrative responses to discrimination. It is said that they are collaborating with
Ramon ended his speech with a positive message. Ramon said that 60 years after Title VI was enacted, racism and inequality are still prevalent throughout the U.S. education system. Nevertheless, progress continues, and with action and hope, she said, there is a bright future for American education.
“The case resolutions I have shared reflect that equal opportunity in schools is possible and achievable, and also demonstrate the painful truth that without meaningful law enforcement, discrimination will increase.” said Ramon. “We need a law specifically designed to eradicate discrimination.” [and] Targeting civil injustice…I urge all of you here to use your advocacy efforts to realize this possibility. ”
