WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) released the following statement after joining 63 Senators and Representatives from the Congressional Tri-Caucus – composed of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) in calling for Sec. DeVos to commit to protecting the civil rights of all students, proactively and with the uttermost urgency.

“If the mission of the Department of Education is to ensure equal access to education, then Sec. DeVos is effectively failing our students” Rep. Grijalva said. “The latest actions to rescind key protections for students does nothing to quell the ever-growing concerns that she is unfit to lead the Department of Education. The Administration’s decision to underfund the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) leaves no question as to where their priorities land. The OCR was established precisely to ensure all students are equally protected. The proposed Trump education budget is simply austere; it is my hope that our Republican colleagues will take a sensible approach and continue to fund the OCR. Not providing the support necessary for the OCR to do its job is a disservice to our students. It leaves the door open for students to be discriminated against and for their basic protections to be undermined.”

As the letter states, I believe that “every student deserves a chance to learn, explore their talents, and be successful regardless of their race, ethnicity, immigration status, first language, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity. OCR has done important work to ensure that this is a reality ?and this work needs to continue.”

Full text of the letter can be found here. 

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