U.S. Department of Education Has Started Tracking Religious Discrimination In Schools

School classroom with school desks and blackboard in Japanese high school
MAROKE VIA GETTY IMAGES

The United States government is taking a big step to curb religious discrimination in schools. The U.S. Department of Education announced a series of initiatives this summer to address religious discrimination in public schools, including a new website with legal information regarding students’ religious rights.

For the first time ever, the agency’s Office for Civil Rights will require schools to report the number of incidents involving religious-based bullying and harassment using an online data collection platform. The office also updated its online complaint form to clarify to schools the kinds of incidents that will fall into this category.

The department’s move comes at a crucial time, as the country grapples with disconcerting levels of anti-Muslim sentiment.

There have been roughly 100 hate crimes committed against Muslims in the U.S. since the Paris terror attacks in November 2015, according to the group Muslim Advocates. Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative found that there were more acts of anti-Muslim violence and vandalism in 2015 than in any year since Sept. 11.

The Huffington Post has also recorded more than 260 acts of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and political speech in the United States this year.

Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-us-has-started-tracking-religious-discrimination-in-schools_us_57d70434e4b06a74c9f6052b

SOURCE: Huffington Post – Antonia Blumberg