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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) recently filed a suit against the U.S. Department of Education over changes to the Education Department's rules for civil right investigations. In March 2018, the federal Department of Education amended the office for Civil Rights Case Processing Manual unilaterally. The changes include new provisions to require dismissal of certain complaints and the elimination of complainants’ right to appeal OCR decisions.  OCR has a Case Processing Manual specifying how its offices respond to complaints. In changes made recently, ED mandates that complaints by anyone who has previously filed a pattern of complaints will be dismissed without investigation. The changes also eliminate the appeals rights of complainants.  The actual complaint filed in the U S District Court fro the District of Maryland is available here.H...

The Office For Civil Rights of the federal Department of education has published a searchable database of schools that have had a complaint pending against them under §504, one of the federal anti-discrimination laws. The directory lists claims based upon disability discrimination and based upon all other unlawful types of discrimination. It should be emphasized that the listed items involve complaints filed and not findings of discrimination. Nonetheless, it is a valuable resource. Here is an article about the directory in Disability Scoop.  OCR issued the following "disclaimer" in its press release: OCR publishes as a public service, this list of elementary-secondary and post-secondary institutions under investigation. The list is a snapshot of data on aspects of law that OCR enforces as it existed at a particular point in time (i.e., the last Friday of each month). It is not real-time data. OCR will replace the list with a new data snapshot on the first Wednesday of each ...

Earlier this year we ran a post asking whether special education was in trouble ? Perhaps this week it would be better to ask- Is America in trouble? White supremacists and nazis marched on Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. They carried lit torches and screamed at and terrorized local people. They murdered one counter-protester and two state troopers also died as a result of the event.  Nineteen other innocent people suffered injuries as a result of the Alt-right riot. The new and apparently emboldened white supremacists no longer feel that it is necessary to cover their faces with hoods . The accounts are disgusting and difficult to read. Here is one ;  here is another . The television program Vice did a documentary on the organizers and the riot- available here. White supremacists, nazis... really? I  thought that we as a country were past this kind of nonsense. As a country, we fought a war against nazis and white supremacists in World War II. Many of us have fa...