This morning, the National Women’s Law Center shared some big news: they just sued the Department of Education for failing to answer a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents that’d reveal the department’s enforcement of Title IX (or lack thereof).
On the National Women’s Law Center blog about the lawsuit, fellow Alexandra Brodsky explains:
In January, my colleagues at the National Women’s Law Center and I filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the federal law that gives us all the right to documents created by our government (with some exceptions, like records that would endanger individuals’ privacy). The purpose of the law is to promote transparency and allow us to hold our government accountable – which is only possible if you know what it’s doing. But the Department of Education hasn’t turned over a single page in response to our January letter.
Title IX, which is a federal law which requires schools that receive federal funding to properly respond to and prevent sexual violence, is enforced by the Department of Education. Title IX has to do with civil rights—something that Betsy DeVos doesn’t seem too concerned with. During the confirmation, DeVos declined to answer multiple inquiries about whether she would enforce the civil rights of American students, and the ignored FOIA request hints that she has no intention of doing so. The fact is, she willingly serves as a member of a sexual predator’s presidential cabinet.
And that’s precisely why the Department’s refusal to share information is so important.
As Brodsky writes:
To be honest, no one really knows what the Department is doing on Title IX these days. They won’t tell us. Without that information, student survivors and their advocates (like NWLC!) can’t know if turning to the Department for help is a good idea, and we can’t push officials to improve.
That’s why the records we requested are so important, and why it’s so unjust that the Department of Education has refused to provide any records. We haven’t even received an explanation for why our request has been ignored. We sued the Department because apparently, we need a federal judge to force DeVos and her agency to live up to their legal responsibilities.
Click here to read the FOIA violation complaint again the Department of Education.