From [HERE] In both cases the reforms included educating students to recognize and report discrimination, and training school staff in how to respond to it. In Iowa, the district also agreed to reimburse the parents of the Black student for therapy the student needed as a result of the harassment.

The majority of complaints in the past year, as in previous years, allege discrimination against students with disabilities — a population whose plight became more visible during the pandemic when schools drew federal scrutiny for failing to serve such students during school closures.

In Colorado, advocates filed complaints citing a range of violations, including segregating disabled students from their peers in dilapidated trailers. In Arizona, complaints allege that disabled students were bullied by other students and staff members and disproportionately disciplined for disability-related behavior.

“Families really thought that something might change when we went back, and instead many families were stuck with the same bureaucracies that have always failed their kids,” said Denise Marshall, the chief executive officer of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a disability rights advocacy group. “What we see from our members is that they’re desperate for somebody to do something about what they see as the chaos that public education is in right now.”

Some of the highest-profile complaints filed with the department show how culture wars waged by adults affect the nation’s children. [MORE]