The Department of Education is proposing to roll back attempts at collecting additional data on teacher-perpetrated sexual assaults, prompting concerns about transparency in reporting faculty misconduct.
Data collection, under last week’s proposal, would continue to include the number of documented incidents at a given school, but would retire Trump-era reporting on “rape or attempted rape, or sexual assault” allegations that were followed by “a resignation or retirement prior to final discipline or termination.”
Former Secretary Betsy DeVos implemented those provisions for the 2020-2021 school year, but they were reportedly delayed due to COVID-19.
An Education Department spokesperson defended the move as a way to “reduce burden and duplication of data.”
“The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) strives to ensure the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) data are an accurate and comprehensive depiction of student access to educational opportunities in school districts,”
