Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following statement after the Department of Education (Department) withdrew its proposal to end data collection on allegations and incidents of sexual assault by school staff members:
“I was astounded when the Office for Civil Rights proposed removing questions related to incidents of sexual assaults by staff members in K-12 schools. Parents send their children to school expecting them to be safe-this kind of behavior cannot be swept under the rug. Teachers and school staff are not exempt from accountability nor should schools be able to dodge transparency so easily.
“While I am glad that the Department has reversed course, I still have questions about why this decision was made in the first place. Keeping our children safe in school is not a partisan issue. It should not have been necessary to hold the Biden administration’s feet to the fire to get this proposal reversed. The safety of students should never come second."
Note: On Dec. 3, 2021 Republican leader Foxx and several other Republican Members of the Committee sent a letter to Secretary Cardona slamming the Department for this proposal, which undermined student safety in schools. In part, the letter read: “Unfortunately, this proposed action by the Department continues the Biden administration’s troubling trend of undermining parental rights in education. The Biden administration has repeatedly demonstrated that it cares more about the self-interests of teachers unions than the best interests of children."
