New office to support civil rights in schools
New Jersey move follows federal enforcement cuts
By: Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A new initiative from state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is gearing up to bolster civil rights protections in public schools and colleges, in response to the Trump administration's shrinking the federal government's role in enforcing the protections.
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The new Education and Public Accommodation Enforcement Section in the Division of Civil rights, part of the Attorney General's Office, will target "discrimination in K-12 schools, universities, and other settings covered under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, Davenport's office said in a statement.
..... The move comes after the Trump administration reduced the footprint of the federal Education Department as part of its Returning Education to the States initiative, which aims to place educational polices entirely in the hands of states and dismantle the Education Department' civil rights, special education and statistical research arms.
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The federal government has closed seven of 12 civil rights offices nationwide and laid off civil rights attorneys in those offices, including two that served New Jersey.
..... Last week, [07/22/2026] the Trump administration finalized removal of guidelines for a "disparate-impact" provision that sues demographic data to establish that a school or college violated the civil rights of groups of students or employees. those discrimination cases usually involve groups of people or students who belong to a race or religious gorp or have a disability.
..... The Trump administration argues that while schools will continue to be accountable to the law, considerations of equity to provide liability had "weaponized: the process. Davenport's office responded by issue its own "disparate-impact" guidelines to replace the federal government's walk-backs, and intends to continue using demographic data, since intent is not required to prove a discrimination case.
..... "Today's [07/30/2026] announcement comes as the federal government has scaled back its enforcement of civil rights protections for students since January 2025," Davenport said in a statement. In addition to closing civil rights offices, "the federal government's Office for Civil Rights in the Education Department received 9,269 complaints, but it dismissed over 90% without review," she said.
Filling the void
..... The state initiative aims to rectify and fill the void created by reduced staffing and changes in rules and policies hat have driven civil rights enforcement for decades, Davenport said. the new section will have attorneys and investigators dedicated to cases involve in harassment in schools and colleges, but will not handle curriculum or special education complaints.
..... The Division on Civil Rights has partner with the National Center for Youth Law to develop a training program for its employees identify, investigate and remedy civil rights violations lovingly children and schools, the Attorney General's Office said.
..... Parent's, students and members of the public can file complaints using the New jersey Bias portal that has been traditionally available to residents.
..... The new section is within the Division on Civil Rights' Investigations Unit and will be led by Deputy Director Michael Campion, Chief Legal Specialist Chiqueena Lee and Che if of Investigations Justin Hoffer.