Civil Rights

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently issued another Dear Colleague Letter addressing a school’s obligation to provide equal access to educational resources (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-resourcecomp-201410.pdf). In addition to this Dear Colleague Letter, the OCR also produced a three part guidance package to meet the obligations to provide students with equal access to education resources (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/resourcecomparability.html). The thrust of the OCR’s letter and guidance package is based on the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), wherein the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that education “is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms” and not subject to discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The OCR is stepping up its review of whether schools are meeting their obligations. We encourage our members to review this Hogan Lovells’ memorandum and the corresponding letter and guidance package now so your school may proactively assess its policies and practices in allocating education resources. The time to perform this review is now to avoid a finding that your school’s is providing separate and unequal education to its students.