The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has launched an investigation into the Green Bay Area Public School District in Wisconsin, focusing on potential violations of Title VI and disability discrimination laws. This action follows a complaint from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), which claims that the district discriminated against a dyslexic elementary student based on race.
According to WILL, the district allegedly prioritizes special education services by racial "priority groups," which excluded the student because he is white. The complaint also accuses the district of failing to provide timely and adequate special education services due to this prioritization.
"In America, we do not 'prioritize' students for educational access, nor do we judge their worth, on the basis of skin color," said Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. "Schools must provide special needs students access to supportive educational resources on an equal footing and on the basis of need, not on the basis of race."
Cory Brewer, Education Counsel at WILL, expressed gratitude towards Secretary McMahon and OCR for initiating this investigation. "It is heartbreaking to think that, in America, a school would consider whether or not to provide services to a disabled student based not on that student's need but on the color of his skin," Brewer stated.
The complaint outlines a policy within the district that allocates educational resources based on racial "priority groups." Allegedly, when questioned about resource allocation by a student's mother seeking help for her son's dyslexia, a school principal cited an obligation to serve underperforming priority racial groups first.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race in federally funded education programs. Additionally, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit disability-based discrimination by recipients of federal financial assistance.
