WASHINGTON - National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García provided the following reaction to today’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Education will issue guidance that weakens federal Title IX protections for campus sexual assault and harassment survivors:
“Educators across the nation are appalled that the Department of Education has decided to weaken protections for students who survive campus sexual assault or harassment. This decision offends our collective conscience and conflicts with the basic values of equality, safety, and respect that we teach our students every day. Title IX is essential to protect each student's right to equal access to education and an educational experience free from violence. The 2011 U.S. Office of Civil Rights guidance says that both the survivor and the accused have the same rights and must be treated equally during all proceedings. Today’s announcement is another example of a Trump-DeVos agenda that scorns respect for survivors, including Secretary DeVos’s own recent meeting with radical anti-woman activists and the president’s own recorded sexual assault confession during the campaign.”
