Overview:
Two metro area school districts are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for reports of discrimination on their campuses.
Two metro area school districts are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for reports of discrimination on their campuses, according to data updated this week by the Department of Education.
Cobb County School Board and Atlanta Public Schools are named in an investigation by the Department of Education for open Title VI shared ancestry investigations.
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, the list has been continually updated as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to stop the “alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and other forms of discriminations”.
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) list is updated weekly. The investigation against Cobb County Schools was opened on Dec. 5, 2023. The investigation against Atlanta Public Schools opened on July 12, 2023.
According to reporting from ABC news, Cobb County Schools shared that they are being investigated for a single complaint regarding an “anti-muslim incident. In a statement, they further clarified. “All students in Cobb should feel safe and welcomed, we do not tolerate hate of any kind,” said the spokesperson in a statement.
Atlanta Public Schools has not disclosed the nature of the incident being probed by the OCR.
Inclusion on the list does not mean that the OCR has decided on the case.