Appealing A Bad OCR Decision On Alleged School Discrimination
By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Have you filed a complaint alleging discrimination or improper retaliation with the United States Department of Education (USDOE) and their Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and received a negative ruling? Did they say the clear wrongful acts (to you) were not really bad or not really discriminatory? If so, you may have an appeal right if you act fast. Per the USDOE website , within 60 days of the date of the letter issued by OCR, an appeal must be filed with the "Director of the Enforcement Office (Office Director)." The bases for appeal listed are: AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING 1) Factual information was incomplete, and/or 2) Factual analysis was not correct, and/or 3) Wrong legal standard was applied AND a) The outcome would be changed due to #1-3 above. The appeal must be filed timely, and if it isn't, the parent/student/claimant, must show a good reason t...