Some federal lawmakers are asking the Trump administration to reconsider ordering Broward schools to end a program focused on empowering Latino youth, saying the demand was based on a “grossly inadequate and incomplete investigation.”
Four Democratic U.S. representatives who represent Broward — Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jared Moskowitz, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Frederica Wilson — reject an assertion by the federal government that the Utah-based Latinos in Action discriminates against non-Latino students. They say the program should be saved.
They are sending a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon that is co-signed by the state’s four other Democratic members of Congress: Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, Maxwell Frost of Orlando, Darren Soto of Kissimmee and Kathy Castor of Tampa.
The Broward School Board is scheduled to vote Nov. 12 to on a request by Superintendent Howard Hepburn to terminate its contract with Latinos in Action, which provides materials for a leadership class in the district.
Hepburn’s request is due to a letter he received from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights alleging that Latinos in Action violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
The federal department threatened to withhold $30 million in Broward County magnet funding if the district doesn’t discontinue the partnership.
“The withholding of funds is based on incomplete or erroneous information, and documentary evidence indicates this decision is based on a grossly inadequate and incomplete investigation conducted by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights,” states the letter from the members of Congress. “We urge the Department to rescind this decision and afford (Broward County Public Schools) the opportunity to prove their partnership with Latinos in Action is in compliance with Title VI.”
The congressional letter states that historically, the education department’s Office of Civil Rights conducts systemic reviews of programming and works with districts to come into compliance.
“However, in this case, BCPS was not afforded the usual notice-and-opportunity to respond or to pursue voluntary resolution before funding consequences were raised, and the district was forced to disrupt education and terminate their partnership with Latinos in Action,” the members of Congress wrote.
The education department’s approach “undermines confidence in a transparent, fair, and consistent process.”
The letter also challenges the specific allegations made by the Department of Education.
The federal department alleged the program “is designed for and exclusive to Latino students.” The department cited now-removed information on the organization’s website, including a statement that “80% of the class must be Latino and 20% can be from other racial and ethnic groups. Another deleted portion of the website suggested the program may segregate students by race in certain situations.
Broward school officials said students were never excluded or segregated in Latinos in Action classes offered in the district.
The members of Congress say that the websites of Latinos in Action programs in individual schools say it’s an elective course open to all students.
The letter says that in addition to Broward, school districts in Polk and Seminole counties have received letters from the federal department instructing them to end the program.
Officials from Latinos in Action couldn’t be reached, despite an attempt by email. An auto reply for the Department of Education said staff members are on furlough status due to the government shutdown, and the department would respond to requests after the government reopened.
“The Education Department, or what’s left of it, clearly acted prematurely by threatening to withhold funding from our local schools, and it all appears to be based on erroneous information, an incomplete investigation, and a purely political agenda,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “This baseless decision by the Department is an attack on our students’ educational opportunities.”
Broward School Board member Sarah Leonardi said she would like to find a way to save the program.
“I absolutely support the call for USDOE to rescind their decision,” she told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I am grateful for and proud of our delegation for taking leadership on this issue.”
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