Compliance Reviews
Office of Civil Rights Reviews and Authorizer Monitoring
Civil Rights Reviews
Local Education Agencies that host Career and Technical Education (CATE) programs are subject to civil rights reviews from the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights via the State Department of Education’s Office of CATE. While each state has its own process for review, most require a desk audit of printed materials and student information data. On-sight reviews are conducted by a Civil Rights Review Team which includes interviews with staff, facility, students and sometimes parents. The goal of the review is to ensure that every student based on race, disability, gender and primary language is afforded their civil rights under the following federal laws.
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Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
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Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
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American’s with Disabilities Act of 1990
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Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
As an Education Associate at the South Caroina State Department of Education, I served on the Civil Rights Review Team for five years visiting well over 50 high schools and career centers. If your district has been selected for a review a pre review is recommended to identify any areas of concern before the Civil Rights Review Team from the State Department of Education does. This comprehensive review is a minimum three day review depending on the number of schools and centers that offer CATE programs along with the actual number of programs. The pre review will look much like the offical review starting with an assessment of all printed material for public comsumption and aggregated student data. Interviews with staff, faculty, students and parents will be conducted by myself and other expereinced educators. A full assessment of the facilities is also available based on ADAAG (American with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines).
Helpful Resources for Civil Rights Reviews: