The U.S. Department of Education opened an online submission tool to collect reports of discrimination based on race or sex in public K-12 schools, the agency announced Thursday.
EndDEI.Ed.Gov is a public portal for parents, students, teachers and the general public to alert the agency of "illegal discriminatory practices."
The portal’s website stated the Education Department "is committed to ensuring all students have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination."
Specifically, the Education Department said people can provide an email address, the name of a school or school district, and details about concerning practices. The agency did not immediately respond to questions about how this information collection process aligns with the formal process of filing a civil rights complaint through the agency's Office for Civil Rights.
While the announcement for the new portal said the information collected from the public will be used to identify potential areas for investigation, the formal OCR complaint process has specific guidelines, such as timelines, for complaint and investigation procedures.
The Education Department announced last month it was eliminating initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion in line with President Donald Trump’s directives to purge DEI from the federal government. That directive is the opposite direction from the agency under the Biden administration, which sought to expand DEI practices, including by trying to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation through Title IX civil rights protections.
