Discrimination in education
Any educational program or facility that receives federal funding is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of protected characteristics in providing benefits or services. These federal civil rights protections are applicable to libraries, museums, secondary schools, colleges, universities, vocational schools, and any activities that receive Department of Education funds. One example of discrimination in education is racial disparity in school discipline. Federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination in education on the basis of:
- Race
- Color
- National origin
- Language
- Disability
- Sex
- Religion
Education reform: No child left behind / Leandro
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was designed to impose minimum performance standards for schools. It covers annual assessments of student progress in reading and mathematics, and numerous other federal education programs. This act required school districts to ensure their students were proficient in grade-level reading and math by 2014 and making adequate progress on a yearly basis toward grade-appropriate goals. Under NCLB, parents of children in low-performing schools have the right to transfer their children to higher-performing schools in other districts.
The Leandro litigation has been in the state courts since the late 1990s and is still pending. The case established the parameters of the state constitutional right to a “sound basic education” and has monitored public education in the state as it attempts to meet those goals in low performing school districts.
