During a May 7th House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requested a 16% increase in funding to allow the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to add more staff to expediently resolve Title VI civil rights complaints it receives. In fact, as the civil rights investigations caseload grows, there is an apparent lack of sufficient investigators.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has over 145 Title VI investigations open, with many following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. Those investigation usually take about six to eight months to complete.
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The next day (May 8th), during an Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee hearing U.S. House members agreed on the importance of addressing a spike in antisemitism in schools since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, but disagreed on how to address the problem. Republicans pressured school leaders to exercise due haste in disciplining students and firing administrators and staff regarding incidents related to antisemitism. On the other hand, Democrats focused on how to balance the rights of the involved parties, as well as how to take a preventative and educational approach to the issue.
As stated earlier, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has received a sharp increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in school settings since the war began, with the majority of its more than 145 Title VI investigations into schools and colleges occurring since then.
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