Honoring the Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act by Laying Down Facts

I’m writing this on the eve of the 58th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Act is the cornerstone of a suite of federal civil rights laws meant to protect equal access for all children to a safe, quality education that is free from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, language, sex, religion, and disability. It is this Act that finally allowed the federal government to begin dismantling the vestiges of Jim Crow segregation, a full decade after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that state laws segregating public schools were unconstitutional. Civil rights protections are a key reason the federal government has any role in K-12 education at all, as K-12 education is largely a local and state issue.

On this anniversary in particular, I find myself in deep reflection over the plight of our nation’s schoolchildren and the body of research on K-12 education that I oversee as a Director at the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan Congressional watchdog agency.

Perhaps you’re wondering how I can provide objective information on issues that Americans seem to increasingly view through a partisan lens. My answer is pretty simple—I remember GAO’s mission: to provide Congress with fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government. That is my North Star.

In short, I lay out the facts.

I lay out historical facts to put our research into context. For example, it is widely acknowledged that centuries of discrimination have contributed to inequities in education. When you know that 70 percent of kids attend their neighborhood public school, you begin to understand why formerly federally sanctioned housing policies like redlining remain relevant today: because they have a lasting impact on communities of color, one that continues to this very day.

I often lay out facts from research done by others, but not all research is created equal. At GAO, we only rely on peer-reviewed research, or on studies whose methodologies meet GAO’s standards for rigor. Research like this makes clear, for example, how implicit bias—the unconscious association of people with stereotypes based on identifiable characteristics such as race or gender—can affect one’s judgements about others.

And, importantly, I lay out facts from GAO’s own original analyses, which use complex and sophisticated methodologies and are conducted by teams of experts who know their stuff.

Facts are not always pleasant or easy to hear—but working in a fact-based, nonpartisan agency means I am duty-bound to present them—whatever they are, no matter how scary they seem.

So as we reflect on the Civil Rights Act, let me lay down some facts about who often has access to a high-quality education free from discrimination, and who often does not.

FACT: Many of our nation’s schools are still, for all intents and purposes, segregated. We pointed out deeply entrenched racial, ethnic, and economic divisions among public schools in a 2016 report. In July, we will release a new report that that picks up where that one left off, slicing and dicing the data in new ways, and examining district secessions—a process by which schools sever governance ties from a school district and form their own new district—in the historical context of desegregation orders.?

FACT: Differential treatment of children in schools starts early and can persist for years. Such treatment is pervasive for Black students, students with disabilities, and boys. That was the bottom line of our 2018 report on discipline disparities. That report also noted that schools were suspending preschool aged Black boys from school at disproportionate rates compared to their peers of other races. These were little kids, who hadn’t even entered kindergarten yet. Moreover, although Black students made up 15 percent of the population in US schools during the 2013-14 school year, Black students made up 39 percent of students suspended that year.

FACT: 75 percent of students referred to alternative schools were Black or Hispanic. These schools, which serve students with some of the most complicated academic and social-emotional needs, had fewer counselors and social workers compared to traditional public schools. Read our 2019 report to learn more.????

FACT: Students of color face a seriously uneven playing field when it comes to accessing college, and with it upward mobility and greater opportunities. Black and Hispanic students disproportionately attend high-poverty schools, which provide less access to high school courses that help prepare students for college, such as calculus, physics, and advanced placement courses.

FACT: It is impossible to accurately determine the frequency and prevalence of public schools’ use of restraint and seclusion because of significant misreporting and underreporting of restraint and seclusion data. When schools did report data to the Department of Education (as they are required to do), we see disturbingly high rates in some schools. In school year 2017-18, for example, one preschool physically restrained more than 60 percent of their students and did so an average of 71 times per child.?

FACT: Bullying is pervasive in public schools. As recently as 2018-19, about 1 in 4 students who were bullied at school experienced bullying related to their race, national origin, religion, disability, gender, and/or sexual orientation. And about 1 in 4 middle and high school students saw hate words or symbols at school, including homophobic slurs and references to lynching.

Sometimes the weight of all these issues together threatens to crush my spirit. When it does, I try to take solace in my colleagues’ unwavering commitment to GAO’s core values, which, simply put, boil down to speaking truth to power and appreciating differences. Because of their courage to unearth and expose facts and hard truths that others may prefer to gloss over, we will continue shining a light on some of America’s most vexing problems, and hopefully prompt progress toward a fundamental goal Congress envisioned for the federal role in public education: to ensure equal access to educational opportunity for all students.

My mind also fixes on an inspiring quote from Martin Luther King Jr, who said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And another, when he said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

As we celebrate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, let’s rejoice in—and draw resolve from—all that has been achieved so far. And then let’s keep working and moving forward. Let’s rededicate ourselves to quality schools that provide safe, welcoming spaces where all children have equal opportunities and access to the resources and supports they need to learn and thrive.

There is still much to be done, and many miles to go on our journey before we rest. But the ultimate destination is one we should strive to get at least a little closer to every day, by taking actions—and laying out facts—large and small.