Why is ED Issuing the DCL?
ED is issuing the DCL to clarify the relationship between bullying and discriminatory harassment, and to remind schools that by limiting their responses to a specific application of an anti-bullying or other disciplinary policy, they may fail to properly consider whether the student misconduct also results in discrimination in violation of students’ federal civil rights. What are the anti-discrimination statutes that the Office for Civil Rights enforces? • Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. • Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.1 What are a school’s obligations under these anti-discrimination statutes? • Once a school knows or reasonably should know of possible student-on-stud
