ED Releases Dear Colleague on Protecting Students Against Discrimination

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a new Dear Colleague letter reminding schools of their legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) to provide all students, including students who are or are perceived to be Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, or Palestinian, a school environment free from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. Read the letter in full here. 

ED is available to provide technical assistance webinars on the application of Title VI to discrimination based on race, color, or national origin as described in the letter released today. To request such a training, please contact OCR at OCR@ed.gov.

Today’s newly released documents are among several resources released by the Office of Civil Rights to support schools in complying with their obligations under Title VI to address discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, including shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics. Additional resources in this area include a fact sheet, Protecting Students from Discrimination Based on Shared Ancestry or Ethnic Characteristics, released in January 2023, and a Dear Colleague Letter issued in May 2023 as part of the Department’s launch of an Antisemitism Awareness Campaign.