News

This section includes press releases and statements about education and racial justice issues.

CRP Calls for Fundamental Changes in California's Community Colleges

Almost 75% of all Latino and two-thirds of all Black students who go on to higher education in California go to a community college, yet in 2010 only 20% of all transfers to four-year institutions were Latino or African American. Pathways to the baccalaureate are segregated; students attending low-performing high schools usually go directly into community colleges that transfer few students to 4-year colleges. Conversely, a handful of community colleges serving high percentages of white, Asian and middle class students are responsible for the majority of all transfers in the state. California ranks last among the states in the proportion of its college students who attend a 4-year institution, which is a key factor in the state’s abysmal record on BA attainment. In a state in which half of all high school graduates are Black and Latino, this situation spells economic disaster for the future of the state.

Policy Brief Highlights Student Achievement and Parent Demand for Magnet Schools

This new research is based on a 2011 survey of magnet school leaders from over 50 school districts across the country. Magnet school leaders responding to the survey reported that student achievement rose during periods of federal magnet funding via the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) and that parent demand for magnet school placements was high. Inclusive admissions processes and inter-district transfer policies were increasing, both of which are particularly effective in reducing racial isolation in schools.

Call for Papers: Exploring Possible Benefits of Bilingualism in the Labor Market and Beyond

The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, in collaboration with the Educational Testing Service (ETS), is pleased to issue a call for papers under the general topic of “The Benefits of Bilingualism.”

Collected Works of University of California’s Lingusitic Minority Research Institute now available

CRP makes LMRI documents available to the public via the University of California's eScholarhip, an open-access, scholarly publishing service.

Report Shows Poorly Educated Workers at Bottom of So Cal's Broken Economic Ladder

By focusing on underemployment rates in addition to the numbers of unemployed, this report provides a more accurate measure of the health of the labor market in Southern California and finds a marked increase in the concentration of people clinging to the bottom of the state’s social and economic ladder, with Latino and Black males comprising the economy's hardest hit sectors.

Call for Papers to Inform Policymakers About Race and Gender Disparities in School Discipline

The Center for Civil Rights Remedies (CCRR) at the Civil Rights Project, in collaboration with the Research-to-Practice Collaborative on Race and Gender Disparities in School Discipline, seeks research papers that will inform school discipline policies at the district, state, and federal levels.

Statement on Devastating Cuts to Magnet Schools in LA Unified

The state now threatens the coup de grace, which is to eliminate entirely magnet bus transportation, and with it the possibility for students who can’t provide their own transportation to attend magnet schools. Cutting bus transportation will substantially eliminate the diversity in the magnet schools and the magnets will become more segregated over time. We need to make sure that students from all parts of the city have the right to participate in this important alternative, which is one of the only real paths to college, particularly for disadvantaged students, that’s left in the City of Los Angeles. We think of this as a very important civil rights issue and believe that Superintendent Deasy is correct in suing the state government over this issue.

Statement on New Guidance from Departments of Education and Justice

CRP statement on the long awaited policy guidance from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to K-12 schools and colleges and universities across the U.S., about the ways in which they can legally and effectively pursue their compelling educational interest of reducing the very high level of separate and unequal schooling now prevailing in much of the country.

CRP Announces New Book published by UNC Press

The Civil Rights Project announces the publication of Integrating Schools in a Changing Society: New Policies and Legal Options for a Multiracial Generation, a new book of cutting-edge scholarship on the forces shaping the future of school integration policy following the Supreme Court’s 2007 PICS decision.

Reports show harsh discipline policies applied disproportionately to students of color

The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (CRP) announces the release of two reports and resource materials by Daniel Losen, director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the CRP and one of the nation’s top experts on school discipline.

Civil Rights Project proposes new integration plan for Jefferson County schools

The CRP makes available to the public a new proposed integration plan for the JCPS schools.

Statement on the California Budget Crisis and College Opportunity

Tiny Tax Cut for Most Californians Equals Huge and Hidden Tax on California’s College Students

UCLA Research Center Releases Studies Showing Barriers To College From State Budget Cuts Growing

The reports clearly show the very dramatic impact of cuts implemented prior to this year, with huge cuts now being imposed certain to intensify the situation. In a policy briefing today, representatives of the California Senate Education Committee, the California Postsecondary Education Commission, and the Legislative Analyst's Office will comment on the studies and offer their perspectives on where the state goes from here.

CRP Publishes New Manual To Help Suburban Schools Achieve Positive And Lasting Multiracial Diversity

This manual provides invaluable guidance for education stakeholders in suburban school districts — including school board members, parents, students, community activists, administrators, policymakers and attorneys — promoting racially diverse, high quality schools.

College Affordability at Risk for Latino, African American & American Indian Youth

The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA released two studies showing that college affordability in California is at risk and financial aid is urgently needed. Across the board students are found to be working too many hours to keep up with their studies and a huge proportion (30%) of those surveyed may abandon their studies and hopes of getting a college degree.

Federal Policy Guidance Issued on the Rights of Undocumented School Children

The Department of Justice and the Department of Education just last week issued guidance to school officials across the U.S. outlining their responsibilities, under the guarantee against discrimination in the l964 Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court's 1982 decision, Plyler v. Doe, to admit and give public education to all resident children in the U.S. regardless of their immigration status.

Civil Rights and the Future of Federal Education Law: a Research Briefing on Capitol Hill

A Washington, D.C. briefing at the U.S. Capitol by the Civil Rights Project last week generated an active discussion of research on the intersection of public education and civil rights, with leading scholars suggesting ways in which federal education policy could better foster equal opportunity for all groups of students and further progress in both educational outcomes and race relations.

Education for Students at CSUs Shortchanged by State’s Fiscal Crisis

Faculty in Crisis is a two-part study and the second in a series of reports about the devastating effects of state budget cuts on the California State University system. The reports find that many professors in the CSU system feel that the cutbacks already implemented, coupled with the substantial cuts projected, put the quality of a CSU education in a rapid spiral downward. The studies reveal that faculty are extremely concerned, that the students are losing out, and that their learning experience is significantly undermined by the fiscal crisis.

Separate and Unequal Schools Pervasive in Southern California

California has become a national leader in school segregation for Latino students who are now a clear majority of all students in Southern California, the center of the nation’s largest Latino community. The Southern California region is also home to the West’s largest black community and African American students are also intensely segregated. This segregation is not only by race and poverty, but frequently by language as well, and it is related to fundamentally different patterns of educational opportunity and achievement.

Impact of CSU Cuts on Students is Worse than Expected

Fewer courses and rising tuition are compounded by the nation's financial crisis.