Attorney General Raoul Leads Coalition Opposing Proposal To End Data Collection On Students Bullied Over Gender Identity
AG Raoul leads coalition opposing cuts to civil rights data on LGBTQ+ students.
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led a multistate coalition in opposing proposed changes to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) biennial Civil Rights Data Collection. The proposed changes would halt data collection on nonbinary students, remove “gender identity” and “sex characteristics” from the OCR’s definitions of harassment and bullying on the basis of sex, cease collection of data on harassment and bullying on the basis of gender identity, and remove “harassment on the basis of actual or perceived sex” from the definitions of “rape” and “sexual assault.”
The impacts of failing to collect this data are significant. The OCR’s Civil Rights Data Collection is the largest and, in some instances, the only source of nationwide publicly available civil rights education data. The data is a critical resource for OCR, federal agencies, policymakers, researchers, educators and school officials who analyze student equity and opportunity in education.
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“Gender identity and expression are some of the most common reasons LGBTQ+ students are harassed or assaulted at school,” Raoul said. “It’s important that educators have access to accurate data to better address this issue, because all students deserve a safe and supportive school environment.”
Nationwide, LGBTQ+ students experience verbal and physical harassment and bullying at rates disproportionate to their non-LGBTQ+ peers. A recent study found that over 50% of LGBTQ+ students were verbally harassed on the basis of their gender identity, and more than 20% were physically harassed. Additionally, approximately 75% of transgender students report feeling unsafe at school because of their gender identity, with nearly 25% of transgender and gender diverse students reporting missing school because they felt unsafe.
In their comment letter, Raoul and the coalition argue that ending this data collection will harm these already-vulnerable student populations, impeding Illinois’ efforts to identify and address gender-identity-based harassment and bullying. Moreover, the halting of such data collection departs from past OCR data collection practices and lacks clear reasoning. The proposed changes would undermine OCR’s mission to enforce Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex without any evidence that the changes would benefit schools or local education agencies.
The changes, if finalized, would also increase burdens on schools and local education agencies, requiring them to commit additional resources to review nonbinary students’ records, as well as review each reported case of bullying or harassment on the basis of sex to determine if it falls within the Civil Rights Data Collection’s new definition. Schools and local education agencies would also need to contradict state law by assigning a “male” or “female” designation to students who identify as nonbinary, or completely omit such students from gender-delineated datasets. The changes would therefore lead to both added costs for schools and local education agencies and inaccuracies in gender-delineated data due to undercounting of bullying and harassment cases.
Attorney General Raoul co-led the comment letter with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Joining them in submitting the letter are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
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