Scott Commends U.S. Department of Education’s Efforts to Ensure All Students Have Equal Access to a Quality Education

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, a senior member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement on new guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights to states, school districts and schools on standards set in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ensure that each student has equal access to educational resources:

"I commend the Department's renewed commitment to equity, especially given the chronic and widespread disparities that still persist in our nation's schools 60 years after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. While we have made significant progress, the promise of equal educational opportunity envisioned by the Brown decision unfortunately remains unfulfilled today. For example, equal educational opportunity does not occur when one jurisdiction spends substantially more per student than an adjacent jurisdiction because of the relative differences in property values between the two. Obviously, we have work to do to guarantee the promise of the Brown decision. The Department's guidance released today offers an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to achieving that promise."

For more information about this guidance, please visit: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-education-secretary-announces-guidance-ensure-all-students-have-equal-access-.

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