CTE and Civil Rights: What’s the Connection?

Administrators may be understandably nervous if they get a call requesting a review by DPI’s Civil Rights Compliance (CRC) Program. Yet, it’s not as daunting as one might think. Consider that our shared goal is to provide a quality education for every child by ensuring they have equal access in every aspect of their PK-12 public education. The CRC Program can help schools reach this goal. Consider, too, there is no expectation that administrators are experts in civil rights law. Instead, a CRC Program review provides guidance and understanding that is helpful in meeting the requirements and spirit of the law.

Little Known Facts
Did you know that the Wisconsin DPI’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Team conducts civil rights reviews on behalf of the federal Office of Civil Rights? But why the CTE Team?

In 1973 the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was sued for not upholding civil rights legislation. Subsequent investigation found widespread, systemic discrimination in vocational schools, including disproportionate or separate enrollment of demographic groups including race, color, national origin, and handicap, which resulted in discrimination through separate classes, inadequate evaluation, denying limited English proficiency students access, etc.

The remedy is what we see today: The federal Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Vocational and Adult Education require each state education agency’s CTE leadership to create a program that addresses potential discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or handicap* by its local education agencies (LEAs) that provide CTE and receive federal financial assistance.

How Wisconsin Chooses Schools for Review
In Wisconsin, DPI annually identifies nine districts for CRC Program review by assessing each school district’s Career Education Roster data from the prior school year. The districts selected for the annual review are those with the highest disproportionality of student group participation in CTE, based on these data points:

• Unduplicated students in grades 11-12 who have completed at least one CTE course
• English Language Learners
• Students who qualify for free and reduced lunch
• Disability status
• Race
• Sex

What You Should Know
LEAs have some control over making improvements. Here are some basics that the CRC review team looks for:

• The name and contact information of the person in your district who is knowledgeable about the civil rights laws and how to implement them in the educational setting
• The contact person for concerns related to civil rights in your district or school
• The methods that are used to communicate the contact person’s information to students, parents, staff, and the community at large
• The procedures to evaluate local practices for enrollment, outreach, and accommodations that improve access to educational programs for all students
• The procedures for annually analyzing disproportionate data and root causes, and determining strategies to address equity and access gaps

Resources for more information:

• Wisconsin Civil Rights Review
• Office of Civil Rights Guidelines for Vocational Education Programs
• Questions related to the WI CRC program may be directed to Sara Baird, Assistant Director, CTE.

* The civil rights laws that are subject for the review include:

• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, and national origin) 34 CFR Part 100
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (prohibiting discrimination based on sex) 34 CFR Part 106
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (prohibiting discrimination based on disability) 34 CFR Part 104 and
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (prohibiting discrimination based on disability) 28 CFR Part 35

Photo by Danny Nee on Unsplash

—Submitted by Christine Lenske, Grant Specialist, CTE Team, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction