Public Justice Statement on the Department of Education Rescinding Students’ Title IX Protections
On Sept. 28, the Department of Education announced it will rescind 2024 Title IX rules that aimed to provide protections […]
Governments and schools across the country are violating students’ civil rights. We’re fighting back.
Every student in America has the legally protected right to learn in an environment free from discrimination. Public Justice’s Students’ Civil Rights Project uses impact litigation and other advocacy tools to combat discrimination, securing justice for wronged students and systemic change.
The cornerstone of the SCRP’s work is combating sexist, racist, and anti-LGBTQ+ attacks on students by the federal government, states, and schools. These attacks threaten to erase decades of hard-won progress in achieving equitable learning environments. And they are on the rise.
From threatening to defund schools with trans-inclusive policies to banning efforts to root out race discrimination in student discipline, the federal government and states are weaponizing civil rights laws against students. But we are helping students fight back. In one recent win, we convinced an appeals court to allow our transgender client to use school bathrooms aligned with his gender identity despite an unlawful state ban—and then convinced the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb that ruling.
As the only national project devoted to combating discrimination in schools, we use our deep expertise to take on powerful institutions. For example, for decades, Ohio State University had enabled one of its doctors to sexually abuse hundreds of young men. But the university argued that the abuse had happened too long ago for the university to be sued. We developed the legal strategy that convinced a federal appeals court that the university was wrong and that the cases could move forward. Later, we took the lead in successfully opposing the university’s effort to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the case, securing the appellate victory for hundreds of Ohio State survivors and protecting precedent that will help other victims bring lawsuits.
The Students’ Civil Rights Project works to ensure that all students can learn and thrive at school, taking on the powerful systems that threaten their fundamental rights.
