by Asia Fields, Ashley Clarke, Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards

Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration laid off nearly half of the Department of Education division that handles civil rights investigations and shifted its focus. The administration halted work on thousands of pending discrimination cases while ordering investigations aligned with its priorities.

Some people have spoken out about their cases being in limbo or about not receiving updates. We know there are thousands of other people who are affected. We need your help to see the full picture of how the dismantling of the Office for Civil Rights is affecting students, parents, school employees and their wider communities.

If you submitted a complaint or had a case closed this year, or if you have a currently pending case, we want to hear about your experience. We’re also interested in connecting to people with other insights about the Department of Education.

If you work or worked for the Department of Education, please do not fill out the form. Instead, use Signal to contact reporter Jennifer Smith Richards at jsmithrichards.93 or reporter Jodi Cohen at jodireporter.88.

We take your privacy seriously and will contact you if we wish to publish any part of your story.

We’re gathering these stories for our reporting, which can take several weeks or months. We may not be able to follow up with everyone, but we will read everything you submit and it will help guide our reporting.

As journalists, our role is to write about issues. We cannot provide legal advice or other support. However, there are resources available. We know these cases can stem from painful experiences, and mental health support is available if you need it:

The National Sexual Assault Hotline is available online or by calling 800-656-4673.
The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available online or by calling or texting 988.
The Trevor Project provides support to LGBTQ+ youth. You can connect online, by calling 866-488-7386 or by texting 678678.

You can share your experience using our form.

If you would prefer to connect using the encrypted messaging app Signal, our number is 917-512-0201. You can also contact ocr@propublica.org with any questions.

If you would like to connect with ProPublica reporters about other topics, you can reach out to a reporter or send a tip to our newsroom.

Help Us Report on How the Department of Education Is Handling Civil Rights Cases