\n<\/p>\n
Zbur, a Democrat from Los Angeles who was among the law\u2019s authors, said the new Office of Civil Rights and the antisemitism coordinator are not intended to punish teachers. The idea, he said, is to help schools stamp out bullying, discrimination and other acts targeting specific groups of students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that this law is about policing is hogwash,\u201d Zbur said. \u201cIt\u2019s intended to be productive, to provide districts with resources so they can prevent students from being harmed in school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discrimination has long been illegal in California schools. Individuals who feel they\u2019ve been discriminated against can file complaints with the state\u2019s Civil Rights Department<\/a> or with their local school district<\/a>. But much K-12 anti-discrimination enforcement has fallen on the federal government\u2019s Office of Civil Rights. Created in the mid-1960s, the office investigates complaints about a range of issues, such as school segregation, unfair discipline practices and whether students with disabilities or English learners are receiving the services they\u2019re entitled to.<\/p>\n In March, the Trump administration announced it was laying off nearly half of the U.S. Department of Education workforce and closing numerous branches of the Office of Civil Rights, including the one in California. That\u2019s meant a steep decline in the number of cases and long delays for those the office investigates. In the three months after the Department of Education cuts, for example, the office received nearly 5,000 complaints but investigated only 309<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Department of Education went even further, spinning off some of the agency\u2019s largest responsibilities to other federal departments \u2014 including much of the administration of\u00a0 elementary and high school funding<\/a>. Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation\u2019s conservative vision for the country that so far Trump has followed, calls for the Office of Civil Rights to become part of the Department of Justice and for it to \u201creject gender ideology and critical race theory.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Education didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n California\u2019s new Office of Civil Rights will have a director and several coordinators who will oversee anti-discrimination cases based on race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion. The director and anti-discrimination coordinators will be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature, likely after Jan. 1.<\/p>\n The office will provide schools with materials about preventing discrimination, and work with districts that have been the subject of complaints from students, families or the public. In serious cases, the office will recommend more intensive assistance to the state Department of Education to correct problems. For districts that persistently flout anti-discrimination laws, \u201cthe department may use any means necessary to effect compliance,\u201d according to laws already in place. That may include cutting funding for textbooks or other materials found to be discriminatory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u2018Cutting off funding, that\u2019s what works\u2019<\/h2>\n