AAUW Demands Accountability as Civil Rights Enforcement in Education Hits 12-Year Low

Washington, D.C. — A new Senate HELP Committee minority report confirms what students and advocates have long been sounding the alarm about: the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is failing students at a historic rate. With enforcement at a 12-year low and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon acknowledging failures under her watch, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is calling for immediate accountability and action.

AAUW CEO Gloria L. Blackwell issued the following statement:

When civil rights enforcement breaks down, students pay the price. Today’s report confirms what too many students already experience — delayed responses, dismissed complaints, and a system that is not meeting the moment.

Students don’t experience civil rights protections ‘in hindsight.’ They either have them when they need them — or they don’t.

It is unconscionable to acknowledge that the Office for Civil Rights is falling short while simultaneously proposing a budget that cuts its funding and nearly halves its staff. You cannot fix a system you are actively dismantling.

This is not a political debate. It is a question of whether students can go to school free from discrimination, and whether the federal government will enforce the law when they cannot. AAUW has fought for equitable education for over 140 years. We will not accept a civil rights system that exists only on paper.

OCR is the primary federal safeguard for students facing sexual harassment, discrimination, and unequal treatment in education. Yet the administration’s FY 2027 budget proposal would slash its funding by $49 million and cut staffing from 530 to 271 full-time employees. A January 2026 GAO report found that OCR dismissed approximately 90 percent of the more than 9,000 discrimination complaints it received between March and September 2025. That is not enforcement. That is abandonment.

Decisions about the future of civil rights enforcement cannot happen behind closed doors. Reports that Secretary McMahon will brief HELP Committee members privately on plans to dismantle the Department are deeply troubling. Students, families, and taxpayers deserve transparency and answers.

AAUW calls on Congress to fully fund OCR, exercise rigorous oversight, and ensure the agency can do what it was created to do: enforce civil rights laws, protect students from discrimination, and hold institutions accountable.

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AAUW (American Association of University Women) is one of the nation’s leading organizations for equity in higher education and women’s economic empowerment. Founded in 1881 by women who defied society’s conventions by earning college degrees, AAUW has since worked to increase women’s access, opportunity, and equity in higher education through research, advocacy, and philanthropy of over $146 million, supporting thousands of women scholars. Learn more at aauw.org.