Equity in Education

A federal judge on Jan. 9 struck down the Biden administration’s Title IX rule nationwide, declaring that the regulations violated the Constitution. 

The rule, released last April, offered protections for the first time for LGBTQI+ students and employees at federally funded schools and colleges, including by prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. But the rule quickly drew legal challenges. Courts blocked the regulations in at least 26 states before the Jan. 9 decision vacated the rule altogether. 

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who was among the attorneys general who challenged the rule, immediately praised the decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. 

“The court’s ruling is yet another repudiation of the Biden administration’s relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology through unconstitutional and illegal rulemaking,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations when he returns to office next week.”

Praise and disappointment

Those opposed to the rule celebrated its demise, saying the rewrite would have allowed biological males to compete against women and girls and threaten their safety.

“From its first day in office, the Biden-Harris administration tried to unilaterally rewrite the legal definition of womanhood to include biological males," said House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., in a statement. "I am proud to support Title IX and the women who fought to defend it — today marks an enormous win for women and girls across America.”

"The Court standing up for parents rights is AMAZING," wrote Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice on X. "The US Constitution Matters and no federal law can compel the speech of pronouns in support of gender ideology nonsense in public school - K-12 or colleges."

Those supportive of the rule's intent to provide protections for students vulnerable to discrimination were disappointed with the decision.

"The Biden administration’s Title IX rule is essential to ensure that all students — including survivors of sexual assault and harassment, pregnant and parenting students, and LGBTQI+ students—are able to learn in a safe and welcoming environment," said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, in a statement.

U.S. Secretary Miguel Cardona told K-12 Dive on Jan. 10 he was disappointed by the ruling.

"We really pushed for better protection on college campuses for victims of sexual violence, and we have some judge out of Tennessee — who's probably looking to make a name for themselves — blocking it for the whole country," Cardona said. The rule "was going to make sure that all students were respected and honored. I think we're taking steps backwards when we are lessening protections for students."

What can schools do now?

Brett Sokolow, president of the Association of Title IX Administrators, said in an emailed statement that the court’s language on this nationwide impact could have been clearer. The decision may face appeal by the Biden administration, but that move would likely be withdrawn by the incoming Trump administration. 

The previous Title IX rule was issued under the first Trump administration in 2020. The Biden administration sought changes to the rule beginning in June 2022, when it released proposed rules that expand the breadth of Title IX reports that schools would be required to investigate and shorten Title IX procedural timelines. It also sought to protect LGBTQ+ students under the anti-sex discrimination law.

A separate Biden administration proposed rule that would have extended Title IX protections to transgender student athletes was withdrawn by the Education Department in December.

Regarding the court's decision on the broader Title IX rule, ATIXA interprets the ruling to be a universal order applying to all states, but there are "many unsettled legal questions surrounding this," the organization said.

The questions include whether schools previously subject to the 2024 Biden administration regulations with complaints that fall between Aug. 1, 2024, and Jan. 9 should apply the 2024 rule to those complaints. That could include both current and closed cases.

For ongoing cases, the other question is whether schools need to change course and revert to applying the 2020 rule. "Switching procedures mid-complaint would surely be disruptive, however the Kentucky court explicitly stated in its ruling that, '…vacatur of the Final Rule is not likely to have a disruptive effect.' That leaves you with needing to consult legal counsel on these important timing questions," Sokolow said.

Another consideration is whether the decision marking the 2024 rule unlawful means schools never had to comply. "As a result of this order, ED [the Education Department] logically cannot enforce the invalidated 2024 Regs now against any school, as there are no 2024 Regs on the books for it to enforce," said Sokolow, advising schools again to consult with lawyers.

Locally, the question arises if Title IX findings, using the 2024 rule, are valid. "We think it is reasonable to assume that some respondents will use this ruling to file lawsuits challenging adverse findings made against them under the 2024 Regs, arguing that unlawful rules cannot yield lawful results," Sokolow said.

New York City will create and implement a Latino studies curriculum in public schools using a $3 million investment from the City Council’s Education Equity Action Plan initiative. The new curriculum is expected to launch in three years.

The initiative is a collaboration between United Way of New York City, the Hispanic Federation and Columbia University’s Teachers’ College. These organizations will work closely with community-based organizations and local educators to gather feedback for the curriculum’s development and implementation.

Nationally, Latino studies and ethnic studies efforts have expanded over the last few years: In 2022, Connecticut became the first state to require all high schools to offer courses on African-American, Black, Puerto Rican and Latino studies. As of 2024, 22 states — including California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada — have ethnic studies requirements.

Latino students comprise 42.2% of learners in New York City Public Schools, making them the largest demographic in the nation’s biggest public school system.

“In order to build an equitable educational environment, we need resources that reflect the broad scope of our history and lived experiences. A comprehensive and community-driven Latine Studies Curriculum does just that,” said Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of United Way of New York City, in a press release. The program uses “Latine,” a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina.

A 2022 study found the use of texts with relevance to students' identities can enhance reading motivation, engagement and comprehension. When students are able to see themselves reflected in the texts they read, it leads to more meaningful discussions, the authors wrote. 

According to the research, discussion around terms like “culturally relevant literature” and “diverse texts” have in recent years become common in educational circles with stakeholders seeking to elevate texts by and about individuals whose experiences have been omitted in literary collections.

In New York City Public Schools, this effort looks like Hidden Voices, a New York City Department of Education curriculum guide that aims to help students learn the history about underrepresented groups in New York City such as the LGBTQ+, Asian American Pacific Islander and Black communities. The Latino curriculum is the latest addition, but plans are also in the works for new lessons featuring Americans with disabilities and the Jewish and Muslim American communities.

However, efforts to diversify curriculum have been met with pushback, with almost half of states enacting laws in recent years that limit or ban classroom discussion of “divisive topics” such as race and LGBTQ+ issues, according to PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for free speech.

Patti Sakurai, an associate professor in ethnic studies at Oregon State University, recommends that administrators clarify to any concerned individuals that ethnic studies is not only beneficial for students from those communities, but that there is a foundational educational value in having to think from someone else's perspective.

“It's not about trying to get everybody to agree on a singular narrative as much as understanding the diversity of those narratives, and kind of shift it from this idea that this is about trying to impose propaganda and brainwashing,” Sakurai said.

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By Pathway2Careers

For decades, the central goal of K-12 schools across America has been to guide students toward earning a high school diploma. After all, graduation is a major milestone, signifying that a student has completed their foundational education. But what happens next? For too many students—especially those from low-income backgrounds—that diploma is little more than a door to nowhere.

The vast majority of today’s high-paying jobs require advanced skills, specialized training, and/or a post-secondary degree. If we are serious about promoting equity in education, we can’t merely propel students toward the exit door out of high school; we need to focus on equipping them to traverse a wide array of career pathways.

The problem with "graduation-only" thinking

High school graduation rates reached an all-time high in 2022, but equity gaps remain. By age 24, only about 11% of young adults from low-income families earn a bachelor’s degree—a credential often required for access to high-paying jobs. Compare that to students from the highest-income families, where approximately 58% earn at least a bachelor’s degree. This disparity underscores a harsh reality: a high school diploma alone isn’t enough to level the playing field.

Students from marginalized communities often face systemic barriers that make post-secondary education and high-paying careers out of reach—or at least they feel that way. Without targeted support and exposure to obtainable pathways, students are left to navigate a highly competitive career landscape that’s increasingly defined by specialized skills and credentials they lack. As a result, a cycle of inequity is set to persist across generations.

“Every educator can make a meaningful dent in the equity problem. Simply consider: how can I expose students early and often to career pathways and change their economic outlook?” — Dr. Joseph Goins, Chief Executive Officer of Pathway2Careers

A more holistic approach

If we want to prepare students for success beyond high school, we need to rethink what that preparation entails. It should involve creating engaging experiences that emphasize relevance, exploration, and skill-building. Here are five strategies to adopt:

1. Provide early exposure to career pathways

Students should have opportunities to explore a variety of career options. By introducing pathways as early as middle school, educators can help students connect their interests, values, and talents to their future occupations. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, for example, allow students to gain hands-on experience in fields ranging from healthcare to technology, while also building critical skills that foster readiness for college and the workforce.

2. Make learning relevant

By connecting academic content to real-world scenarios, schools can make learning more meaningful and continually answer the question, “Why do I need to know this?”.  Math classes, for instance, can incorporate projects that simulate budgeting for a business, and science courses can involve solving emerging environmental challenges.

When students understand how everyday classroom activities apply to their future goals, they are more likely to stay curious, engaged, and motivated.

3. Emphasize skill development

In addition to technical proficiencies, thriving within today’s economy also requires having soft skills that make it easy to adapt to multiple roles. A 2024 LinkedIn survey found that a majority of US executives, 69%, plan to prioritize hiring candidates with soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Schools can give students a career advantage by not only emphasizing the importance of these skills but also providing opportunities to develop them through project-based learning, internships, and extracurricular activities.

4. Build wraparound support systems

External challenges, such as financial instability or lack of family support, can derail a student’s academic and career journey all too easily. To counter this, schools must implement support services—including tutoring, mental health counseling, and college and career advising—to ensure that students have the resources they need to overcome obstacles and stay on track.

5. Foster a culture of exploration

Educators should see career-connected learning as a call to offer fun opportunities for exploration, not a push to steer students down any particular path.  The hours students devote to school can be spent trying out various fields, unearthing new passions, and making informed decisions about their futures. It could involve job shadowing, dual-enrollment programs, Early College High School, and conversations with working professionals

Reframing success in education

K-12 success shouldn’t be measured in graduation caps. We need to ask: Are we sending students off with a clear sense of direction, the skills to navigate complex challenges, and the confidence to pursue their goals? By shifting to this focus, schools can create a system that truly serves all students and pushes toward a more equitable society, one engaged learner at a time.

The expiration of federal pandemic emergency aid — which helped boost K-12 student digital access over the past few years — has state ed tech leaders concerned about longer-term efforts to close the digital divide, according to a report released Jan. 15 by the State Educational Technology Directors Association.

According to SETDA, only 27% of states have plans to continue funding technology initiatives financed by federal COVID-19 relief programs. An overwhelming majority — about 92% — of school districts devoted some of their aid money to ed tech.

To sustain connectivity improvements and enhance overall ed tech access, SETDA recommends adoption of local, state and federal policies and practices to remove internet affordability barriers, improve device maintenance, create a source of reliable funding, expand digital skills training for students and families, and implement safeguards for student and staff personal information.

"Universal connectivity is more than just internet access — it’s about addressing the digital divide to ensure every student is prepared for post-secondary success," Julia Fallon, SETDA executive director, said in a statement.  

The group is calling for this universal connectivity in K-12 to ensure students have reliable internet while at school or home. 

On- and off-campus access to broadband has improved in recent years due to programs like the Emergency Connectivity Fund, the Affordable Connectivity Program, and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, the association said. According to SETDA, 74% of districts provide internet access to schools at 1 megabit per second. That's up from just 8% in 2015. 

Additionally, 85% of state education agencies reported working to improve broadband and device access over the past year. 

But gaps still remain in universal connectivity, according to the 59-page report. In schools, those challenges can include lack of reliable connectivity, devices that are not compatible with current technologies, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

SETDA also said federal data reveals that many households, especially those with Black, Hispanic and Indigenous students or in rural areas, lack an internet subscription or device at home. It can be hard for low-income families to maintain internet subscriptions, the report pointed out. 

To address these connection barriers — as well as challenges to digital inclusion and access —  SETDA calls for:

• State and federal commitments from policymakers to support equitable access across K-12. 
• Funding and technical assistance for schools to put inclusive digital tools into classrooms. 
• Assurance that students can access ed tech tools and platforms that protect their data and include technical support for safe web navigation.
• Digital skill-building opportunities for students and their families, as well as sustained efforts for staff professional development and support for adopting artificial intelligence tools. 
• A reliable funding program to support universal connectivity that is responsive to staffing needs, including preserving the Universal Service Fund and launching new initiatives under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Because of their autonomy, charter schools can create more sustainable teaching and learning systems for students with disabilities, according to a new study from the Center for Learner Equity, a nonprofit that advocates for inclusivity and equity for students with disabilities in public schools. 

Including students with disabilities in general education, creating a rigorous hiring process and emphasizing teacher retention were the most impactful factors for student success, according to 59 interviews researchers conducted with school leaders, teachers, parents, technical assistance providers and paraprofessionals at 16 charter schools and six charter management organizations.

The study suggests balancing autonomy and accountability, given that charter schools are allowed greater flexibility to explore new educational strategies in exchange for closer scrutiny of outcomes. Participating schools in the study had the most impact when using a combination of strategies rather than a single solution.

“Students with disabilities experience systematic opportunity gaps and profound inequities in their schooling experiences, across all types of public schools,” said Lauren Morando Rhim, CLE co-founder and executive director, in a statement. “Our new report finds that charter schools can help to close these gaps by investing in the systems that make inclusive educational practice sustainable over the long term.”

One such system is the creation of a rigorous hiring process. Teachers who were interviewed for the study described how their hiring committees had asked direct questions about their approach to educating students with disabilities and brought up role-play scenarios to assess them.

These exercises can help determine how teachers adapt their instruction to students’ learning needs and whether general education teachers view students with disabilities as someone else’s responsibility, according to the study.

In a more specific hiring example, Explore Excel, a school in Brooklyn, New York, prioritized candidates who work and live in the same communities as the students who attend the school. Other tactics recommended by the study include requiring demonstration lessons in the hiring process.

The research also emphasized the importance of teacher retention. Valuable retention practices that were identified include providing plenty of professional development opportunities and personal support, so hired teachers can become part of a common culture and focus on underserved students.

The study found that focusing on retention can help address the shortage of qualified candidates by creating that expertise internally. Participating leaders invested in thorough professional learning programs for new and established teachers, as well as robust new teacher onboarding programs.

The study found the most successful schools also integrated special education programming within general education. Some ensured this mix by allowing all students access to remedial and accelerated content, regardless of whether they qualified for special education services, as well as incorporating co-teaching for all core instructional courses. 

According to a previous report from CLE on key trends in special education in public schools, students with disabilities in charter schools are significantly more likely than their peers in traditional public schools to spend 80% or more of their time in general education settings alongside non-disabled classmates.

Tapestry Public Charter School in Atlanta, Georgia, shifted to a block schedule and added two hours each day for staff collaboration, instructional planning and individualized education program development, the study said. This allowed special and general education teachers to work alongside therapists, behavioral specialists and other service providers.

Overall, the report recommends that schools assess their own improvement areas to create deliberate opportunities for general and special education staff to collaborate and access common professional support.

To help schools and colleges ensure their use of artificial intelligence does not violate federal civil rights protections, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Nov. 19 released its first-ever resource clarifying for school leaders how existing legal requirements apply to the technology.

The OCR guidance outlines 21 potential examples of discrimination involving AI that could violate civil rights laws based on race, color or natural origin, sex or disability.

OCR noted that though some scenarios could be considered discriminatory without AI, they may also “be compounded by its use.” Additionally, the resource said the examples provided are “illustrative” and “non-exhaustive” — and would not determine the outcome of any future OCR investigations.

This new OCR resource puts school districts and education agencies “on notice now,” said Kristin Woelfel, policy counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology's Equity in Civic Technology team.  

School leaders “can’t say they didn’t know that this was a thing, because we finally have a very clear statement that OCR does plan to view these uses” of AI “in light of civil rights laws,” Woelfel said. 

The Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonprofit advocating for civil rights in technology policy, has flagged concerns with the rapid growth of the technology’s use in schools and what that means for students. The nonprofit found in an April report that student discipline tied to AI-related plagiarism suspicions jumped from 48% to 64% between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.

In that same report, CDT warned that historically marginalized students such as English learners or students with disabilities are more susceptible to discipline involving AI plagiarism concerns.

In March, a coalition of 41 youth justice and civil rights organizations sent a letter calling on the Education Department to ban schools from using federal grants to fund police surveillance technologies, particularly those using AI. The organizations wrote that the use of such technologies in schools sets a “dangerous new chapter in the school-to-prison pipeline and mass criminalization of Black, brown, and Indigenous youth and other marginalized young people.”

Now with the new OCR resource on AI use, school leaders have a comprehensive introduction to “very real concerns” about AI discrimination, Woelfel said. 

Woelfel said she hopes this new resource will encourage school leaders to consider looping in their civil rights officer or a school board attorney when thinking about implementing AI technologies. 

Woelfel also recommended that school leaders audit their district’s current anti-discrimination policies for students and staff. When procuring technology, districts should ask vendors if their products can adhere to these nondiscrimination policies, she said. In addition, local civil rights offices or legal experts should be included in those procurement conversations to ensure those products don’t harm students, Woelfel said. 

The OCR resource comes as school leaders are increasingly adopting AI technology and developing policies for its use. In October, the Education Department released a highly anticipated AI toolkit to help school leaders do so. 

“A lot of the conversation lately has been about integrating AI in the classroom and how it can be a tool for innovation and for equity,” Woelfel said. “And it’s not like that’s untrue, but I do think that this part of the conversation can sometimes be lost. Maybe even to a point that this is just part of the conversation that administrators haven’t heard yet.”

At least two-thirds of K-12 teachers received a pay raise between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, according to a Rand Corp. survey released Nov. 20. But the raises received — on average, $2,000 — fell far short of the annual increase desired — $16,000. 

Black teachers were also more likely to receive a lower average salary and pay raise compared to White teachers, Rand found. Meanwhile, nearly half of Black teachers named low pay as a top factor for their job-related stress — exceeding the rate saying that in 2023, according to Rand. 

Looking to retention, Rand reported that teachers who got higher pay increases were less likely to express an interest in leaving the profession.

These patterns of pay disparities are “worrying,” Rand researchers wrote. They will likely exacerbate Black teacher turnover, which could particularly harm Black and other minority students as Black educators are more likely to teach those groups, they said.

In its 2024 State of the American Teacher Survey, Rand asked 1,479 K–12 teachers to report their base salaries for both the 2023-24 and 2022-23 school years.

In 2023-24, the average salary for Black teachers was $65,013, compared to $70,695 for White teachers, Rand found. White teachers also got a higher annual raise on average — $2,030 — compared to $1,684 for Black teachers.

Rand’s findings and warnings over these racial disparities in teacher pay come as other research has shown that the number of teachers of color lags behind the growing enrollment of students of color. 

For instance, data released in August by TNTP, a national education research, policy and consulting nonprofit, pointed to an ongoing “representation gap” between students of color and teachers of color. Students of color make up 55% of nationwide enrollment, while 22% of educators nationwide are teachers of color, TNTP found.   

TNTP analyzed student and teacher racial demographic data at the school district and state levels. 

Challenges with adequate teacher pay follow widespread district concerns of teacher shortages. Ahead of the 2024-25 school year, 74% of public schools reported difficulty in filling one or more vacant teaching positions, down from 80% in 2022-23, according to an October report by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Meanwhile, the new Rand survey also found that teachers in states that don't permit collective bargaining are more likely to earn lower wages and raises, and to have fewer employer-provided benefits. Black teachers disproportionately live in states without collective bargaining, the report added.

Overall, the Rand report recommends education leaders, professional educator associations and researchers track detailed and disaggregated data — and make it easily available to teacher candidates. “Although publishing more-detailed information about pay alone is unlikely to lead to pay equity, it is an important first step,” Rand wrote.

Suspending or expelling a student is one of the most severe punishments schools can issue, and those actions can have lifelong, harmful consequences, according to an updated policy statement issued Oct. 1 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In its first update on the issue since 2013, AAP said research over the past 20 years shows that suspensions and expulsions don't necessarily deter misbehavior. In the 2020-21 school year, 28% of students were suspended more than once.

AAP recommends schools reduce the use of exclusionary discipline through trauma-informed practices, as well as collect and analyze discipline data to identify areas for improvement. 

The nonprofit pediatric organization also suggests students be monitored for chronic absenteeism and screened for developmental disabilities — both of which can make school more challenging for students. 

Research shows that students from marginalized communities, including students with disabilities and LGBTQ+ students, are disproportionately impacted by exclusionary school discipline policies, AAP said.

"When students are not in school, they are more likely to use recreational drugs, engage in fights, and carry a weapon, with potential for increased contact with the juvenile justice system," said Dr. Susanna Jain, author of the policy, in a statement. "The school-to-prison pipeline places these children at increased risk of a cycle of incarceration.”

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Oct. 10 also found that "unfair" school discipline practices were linked to various health risks and experiences, such as being bullied at school, carrying a weapon to school, prescription opioid use, and attempted suicide.

CDC said its report is the first to investigate the connection between school discipline and health and well-being using a nationally representative survey sample of U.S. high school students. Of the survey respondents, 19.3% reported being unfairly disciplined during the previous year.

"Investigating the association between discipline and health is important to understand and promote health equity in schools," the CDC report said. "These findings demonstrate that school discipline is an urgent public health problem." 

Last year, the U.S. Department of Education issued a guide for reducing disproportionate discipline through practices that include creating a positive school climate, increasing access to student mental health services, and developing rigorous and welcoming learning environments.

About 1 in 3 high school students nationwide in 2023 reported having experienced racism in school, according to Youth Risk Behavior Survey results published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Oct. 8. 

More than half of Asian students (57%) and nearly half of multiracial (49%) and Black (46%) students reported experiencing racism sometimes in their schooling. Non-White students reported experiencing racism in school at a rate two to three times higher than the 17% reported by White students.

Poor mental health, suicide risk and substance use consistently ranked higher among students who reported ever experiencing racism in school when compared to students who said they had never faced a racist environment. 

CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey tracks behaviors and experiences among high school students nationwide. In 2023, the research gave a glimpse into students’ experiences with racism in school with the addition of a new question: “During your life, how often have you felt that you were treated badly or unfairly in school because of your race or ethnicity?”

"Students might be experiencing racism in school because of discrimination and bias that are embedded within current school policies and practices (e.g., disciplinary practices) or as a result of interactions with students, teachers, or administrators and other staff members," the report suggests. 

The findings come on the heels of a federal report released in September by the Government Accountability Office that showed Black girls face disproportionately higher rates of school discipline in every state.

The latest CDC findings also confirm that challenges faced by young people during the COVID-19 pandemic continued into 2023. The agency's 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey found high rates of racism among Asian students specifically and among non-White students overall. Asian students’ experiences with school environments that year were a microcosm of an overall increase in anti-Asian hostility during the pandemic. 

The latest CDC report suggests schools can: 

• Adopt policies and practices to prevent and address racism.
• Provide professional development for teachers, administrators and other school staff to increase awareness biases and learn how to intervene.
• Prepare staff members to provide school and community-based resources to support students experiencing racism.
• Address systemic inequities, like discipline practices, that can impact student mental health.
• Create culturally responsive environments, including through behavior interventions and problem-solving approaches that engage families and communities.
• Implement student-led affinity and intersectional groups for marginalized students to provide them with environments to discuss experiences, develop coping skills and celebrate their identities.
• Ensure access to school counselors and social workers.

"In future practice, school districts might consider interventions that create safe and supportive environments by promoting school culture, conditions, and competencies that support equity and anti-racism, as well as healing from experiences of racism," the report concluded.