Education Rights Institute

09/18/2026

⚖️ Civil Rights Update ⚖️

Yesterday, 14 states collaboratively released a multistate guidance on antidiscrimination protections. At the heart of the document is the distinction between disparate treatment (intentional discrimination) and disparate impact (seemingly neutral policies or practices that result in discriminatory effects).

Currently disparate impact will likely not be enforced at the federal level, but many states continue to prohibit this form of discrimination.

🎥 Learn more about the difference between disparate treatment and disparate impact by watching ERI's video: https://youtu.be/WCQ1Pr9JnH0?si=4PM2FBNN_CREdp25

📍 See whether your state's civil rights laws cover disparate impact: https://www.stateofstudentrights.com

📄 To learn ways that school districts can protect students' civil rights, see page 7 of the multistate guidance: https://www.mass.gov/doc/multistate-guidance-on-antidiscrimination-protections-9172026/download

09/17/2026

At ERI, we believe every K-12 student should graduate ready for college, career, and civic life. Because testing and accountability shape so much of the public school experience, we're committed to conversations about how we define and measure success. Sarah Beach will be attending The 2026 Reidy Interactive Learning Series (RILS) hosted by the Center for Assessment next week, with a particular focus on career readiness. If you'll be there too, reach out and connect!

09/09/2026

📚 Last week, Kimberly Robinson had the opportunity to present at the 16th International Conference on Education and Justice, sharing insights from ERI's upcoming toolkit on addressing and remedying racial harassment and hostile environments in K-12 schools. She enjoyed engaging with educators, researchers, scholars, and practitioners and learning from their important work.

Interested in receiving updates on the toolkit's release? Sign up for our newsletter: 📬🔗 https://www.law.virginia.edu/education/sign-education-rights-institute-newsletter

09/03/2026

📣 New Resource: ERI’s Q&A on the Department of Education’s Aug. 18 Dear Colleague Letter on Student Discipline

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recently issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) providing new guidance on race and student discipline.

To help school and district leaders navigate the guidance, ERI developed a concise Q&A explaining:

🔍 What the DCL says
🏫 What it means for schools
📚 Where it differs from peer-reviewed research
⚖️ Where it misstates Title VI’s legal standards

We invite you to repost and share this Q&A with educators, school leaders, families, and others in your community, and invite them to repost as well to spread the word. You can contribute to informed decision-making about creating welcoming and nondiscriminatory learning environments for all students.

📖 Download the Q&A here: https://libraopen.library.virginia.edu/handle/item/9800

08/18/2026

🍎📚 Back-to-School Season Is Here!

As students are returning to classrooms, we want to take a moment to thank the teachers, administrators, counselors, and school staff who work every day to create welcoming, safe, and supportive learning environments for all students. People make civil rights and education laws most impactful when they bring them to life in schools and classrooms.

If you want a refresher on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and what it does and does not mean for schools, be sure to check out our 2025 webinar, From Policy to Practice: Upholding Civil Rights Protections in the Classroom.

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ear-8BU0CK4

This webinar was presented by the Education Rights Institute on Oct...

08/13/2026

The Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, support that will help the institute expand its work to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education.

08/05/2026

At ERI, our mission includes highlighting how students' educational opportunities, and gaps in those opportunities, influence students' outcomes.

Interested in learning more about broadband access and digital inclusion as key components for student success? Check out this new report by the Southern Center for Opportunity and Access.

Our nation needs laws and policies that ensure students can access the technology they need to thrive in the colleges and careers that they will enter.

As communities across the South invest billions in broadband expansion, a new report from the EAC-South, informed by data analysis from InnovateEDU, reveals that internet access alone is no longer the primary challenge. Instead, affordability, adoption, and digital readiness are emerging as the bigg...

07/29/2026

🎉 Good news in the world of student civil rights!

We're encouraged to see New Jersey take important steps to protect students from discrimination through its new Education and Public Accommodations Enforcement Section, and we're thrilled that our colleagues at the National Center for Youth Law are helping advance this work. Every student deserves the opportunity to learn in a safe and welcoming learning environment. 🏫

🔗 Read the press release: bit.ly/NJcivilrights

07/23/2026

📢 Breaking News: Today, the U.S. Department of Education issued a final rule that removes disparate impact from ED’s regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You can view ED’s press release here:
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-removes-disparate-impact-tit….
⚖️ This action eliminates an important tool that has been used for decades to root out systemic discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in schools.
👉Federal law generally requires agencies to provide the public an opportunity to comment on a final rule, but ED did not allow the public to comment before issuing this new rule.
📹 You can learn more about disparate impact liability and how it protects students from discrimination based on race, color, and national origin discrimination in this short ERI video: https://youtu.be/WCQ1Pr9JnH0

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects students in schoo...

07/22/2026

☀️ Summer reading recommendation!

Paul Gorski's third edition of Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap offers practical, research-based strategies for educators and district leaders committed to expanding opportunity for all students.

If you're looking for a book that connects systems thinking and everyday practice, add this one to your reading list. 📖

https://www.tcpress.com/products/reaching-and-teaching-students-in-poverty_9780807783788

This influential book describes the knowledge and skills teachers, school administrators, and other educators need to combat the bias and inequity that deny students experiencing poverty the levels of educational access and opportunity their wealthier peers often enjoy.Written in an engaging, conver...