2017 Site News

New Research Shows Increasing School Segregation in South

Research, to be released on Wednesday, May 24, 2017, by the UCLA Civil Rights Project and the Center for Education and Civil Rights at Penn State finds reversal of Civil Rights era gains, increase in intense segregation for Black and Latino students in the Southern region

National Assoc of State Boards of Ed encourages states to add school discipline indicator to state-wide accountability plans

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) issued a policy brief encouraging states to add a school discipline indicator to their state-wide school accountability plans required by the Every Student Succeeds Act. The brief, co written by CCRR Director Daniel Losen, was based on research findings demonstrating large disparities by race and disability status and linking high suspension rates to negative academic and life outcomes.

Mexico City Summit Addresses Needs of Students Shared by U.S. and Mexico

Building on the success of last September’s ground-breaking UC Mexico Initiative research symposium in Mexico City, education officials, policy makers, researchers and educators are gathering again for a summit in the Mexican capital to discuss ways California and Mexico can collaborate to improve educational opportunities for students they share across borders. In a historic first, both the Secretary of Education for Mexico, Aurelio Nuño, and California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will attend the Summit.

Statement by Concerned Members of the White House Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

In this time of acute stress for Hispanic students and their families, the Commission, first established by President George H.W. Bush, stands ready to offer its expertise to the current administration. After 27 years of service it is about to cease to exist. Latino youth, now representing one-fourth of all U.S. students, and by 2050 one third, are the future of America. Our fate as a nation rests in large part on the fate of these young people. We do know how to improve the future for them, and thus for the country as a whole. The Commission has offered many research-based recommendations.

President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio undermines respect for law

The Civil Rights Project condemns the actions of Joe Arpaio and the action of Donald Trump in pardoning a convicted criminal who has shown no regard for the rights of Latinos in the United States.

Statement on DACA Decision

The Civil Rights Project deeply regrets the President’s decision to terminate the DACA program that has given 800,000 young people -- who have done nothing wrong -- a right to participate lawfully in our society since 2012.

Are There Workable Alternatives to Affirmative Action?

Since the courts -- as recently as the 2016 Fisher v. University of Texas II -- recognize that diversity is a compelling educational goal for campuses, a central question is whether or not there actually are any feasible nonracial ways to achieve this goal. The Civil Rights Project worked with the Educational Testing Service to commission research papers from leading scholars that address this central question.

U.S. Commission for Civil Rights Holds Hearing on School to Prison Pipeline

On December 8, 2017, Daniel J. Losen, director of the CRP’s Center for Civil Rights Remedies, testified in Washington, DC, at a public briefing of the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights (USCCR). The briefing sought to “examine compliance with federal laws designed to protect students of color with disabilities from discrimination, and whether laws adequately protect these students from discriminatory disciplinary actions and policies.”