Civil Rights

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Civil Rights

• It really can work for you!!

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What is Civil Rights all about?

• Its all about assuring the rights of 6 major
  protected classes people

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Assuring Equal Treatment

• To assure that NO
• students or potential
• students in public education are discriminated
  against, all recipients (and sub-recipients) of
  any federal funds come under OCR Regulations.

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Discrimination can be . . .
Subtle and even accidental

• Sooooo
• Obvious
• or

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Areas of Concern

• Youth adult students or potential students and
  employees who are facing discrimination in the
  areas of
• Race, color, or national origin
• Sex
• Disabilities
• Age -- at P2ndary level

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Specific OCR Laws

• Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Race, color, or national origin
• Title IX of Ed. Amendments of 1972
• Sex
• Section 504 of Rehab. Act of 1973
• Disabilities

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Specific OCR Laws

• Age Discrimination Act of 1975
• Age
• American Disabilities Act of 1990
• Disabilities

The ADA applies whether you are receiving
Federal or not.
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Specific OCR Laws

• illegal discrimination based on marital status or
  pregnancy
• Sexual harassment is a form of sexual
  discrimination
• Whether student or employee

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Mission of OCR

• The mission of the OCR agency is to ensure equal
  access to education and to promote educational
  excellence through vigorous enforcement of civil
  rights.

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Common Errors Reality

• Every example herein is backed by at least one,
  if not by multiple citations in laws from
  1964 onward.

As unpopular as some issue may be, it is the law.
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Errors Examples

• 1. No Civil rights statements are in
  publications.
• Dixie Adult Ed programs are open to all students
  without regard to students race, color, national
  origin, sex, age or disabilities.
• . . . and truly mean it . . . let evidence speak
  for itself.

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In Documents . . .

• Staff and student handbooks
• District / College handbooks
• On program promotional flyers
• Notices going home
• Web sites ? including varied sizes of print at
  the site, accessible to machine readers. (ALT
  tag)
• Newspapers

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Errors Examples

• 2. Annual public notices of NON- discrimination
  in multiple formats to in the most common
  languages are not published in mailings,
  newspapers, etc.
• 3. Grievance Procdures
• Who to turn to (position)
• Ph and Address
• Processes articulated??
• See handout

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Errors Examples

• 4. Inaccessibility
• a. Any building built or remodeled after Jan. 26,
  1992 MUST BE FULLY ACCESSIBLE all the times.
• b. curbing, doors, tables, steps, parking, rest
  rooms, pathways, gyms

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Errors ABiggie

• Any buildings built before Jan 26, 1992 and house
  programs that are inaccessible to persons with
  disabilities are ALSO in violation.
• Solutions??
• (1) Move the program to accessible location, (2)
  Remove barriers to make accessible (3) Bus
  students to another schooletc.

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Errors Examples

• 5. Promotional Materials biased
• a. Must be balanced in their face
• b. Equal representation of race, color, national
  origin, sex and disabilities
• c. On web, brochures, catalogs, etc.
• d. Example of decrease in female enrollment
  connected to uninviting brochure

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Errors Examples

• 6. Any recruitment of students
• Team members are all white and/or are along
  the traditional gender lines.
• Not-so-subtle message to incoming students is
  thats not for me.

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Errors Examples

• 7. Herding or Preventing students
• a. Via recruiting, counseling, registration,
  teaching, financial or administrative practices
• b. Evident in situations like a Spanish welding
  instructor has all the male Hispanics in the
  school or the positive opposite at Dixie HS

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Errors Examples

• 8. Missing or ignored policies practices
• LEP, Section 504, Harassment,
• Missing or untrained staff
• Evident in Section 504, procedural safeguards,
  when staff cant talk the talk let alone walk the
  talk.
• Difference between IEP and 504

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Section 504 differences concerns

• Secondary
• School must be PROACTIVE.
• Transition -- teach students to be assertive and
  to seek their rights
• WPU follows student

• Postsecondary
• Student must be PROACTIVE.
• Institution must be responsive OR it is in
  violation.

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Section 504 concerns
2,3,4,5 P2ndary 1,2,3,4,5 2ndary
(students
under 22)

• 1. Parents, current future, have not received
  notices.
• 2. Teachers not familiar with policies or their
  responsibilities
• 3. Slow response by school to issues
• 4. Sec. 504 plans not monitored
• 5. School staff do not return calls

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Section 504

• What is given to students is not an
  accommodation, but a RIGHT.
• Special Accommodations for GED
• Follow guidelines found at www.utahged.info ?
  special accommodations ? forms

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Errors Examples

• 9. Work-based learning
• Employer must agree that he/she will not
  discriminate
• Are all (dis)abilities, races, sexes, etc. having
  access to the opportunities?
• Annual review of WBL enrollees and match against
  schools averages
• IE School ? 75 Caucasian, 25 Hispanic
• WBL ? 90 Caucasian 10 Hispanic (WHY?)
• Any deviation of gt 5 is statistically
  significant

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In summary . . .

• We have an obligation to assure that all students
  have unfettered opportunties to have access to
  and make progress in our school classes,
  programs, and buildings.
• Anything less is probably some form of
  discrimination.

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The end