'We’ve been essentially muzzled': Department of Education halts thousands of civil rights

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. At the same time, there’s been a dramatic drop in the number of new cases opened by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — and the few that attorneys have been directed to investigate reflect some of Trump’s priorities: getting rid of gender-neutral bathrooms, banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports and alleged antisemitism or discrimination against white students. The OCR has opened about 20 new investigations since Trump’s inauguration, sources inside the department told ProPublica, a low number compared with similar periods in previous years. “And now the federal government is literally doing nothing.” The department’s new leadership has said publicly it plans to broaden the types of discrimination the department will investigate. “Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, OCR will not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” acting OCR head Craig Trainor said in the press release announcing that he had directed civil rights staff to investigate a Denver Public Schools bathroom because it “appears to directly violate the civil rights of the District’s female students.” Denver schools spokesperson Scott Pribble called the investigation “unprecedented.” He added, “This is not the first all-gender bathroom we have in a school, but it’s the first time an investigation has been opened by OCR.” There are other girls’ restrooms in the school; only one was converted to an all-gender restroom after students lobbied school administrators to do so.