Delay in 2023-24 Civil Rights Data Collection Sparks Accountability Concerns

The Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for the 2023-24 school year—covering bullying, harassment, internet access and related metrics—was due in December 2025. As of July 2026 it remains unpublished, with a former staffer citing a six-week 2025 shutdown and advocates suspecting alignment with the administration’s broader changes.

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In early 2025 the Trump administration announced moving the Office for Civil Rights from the Education Department to the Justice Department, a shift projected to take months. The department also cut roughly half its staff in 2024, shrinking the team that compiles the CRDC.

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Key voices include Denise Forte of EdTrust, Lindsay Kubatzky of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, an anonymous former CRDC staffer, and lawmakers Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Joaquin Castro, who have used prior CRDC data to draft an AP-expansion bill. The department cut about 50 % of staff in 2024 and a six-week shutdown in 2025 halted CRDC work.

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The missing data hampers assessment of AI-driven learning, internet-device gaps, and racial disproportionality in special-education identification, and weakens the evidence base for expanding AP courses to minority and disabled students.

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Denise Forte (EdTrust) said the delay “raises serious concerns” as the administration downplays racism and inequality. Lindsay Kubatzky warned recent policies would reduce transparency for disabled students. Booker’s team confirmed the AP-expansion bill will be reintroduced.

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Critics argue staff cuts, the OCR move, and proposals to drop disability-tracking by race erode federal accountability tools and risk obscuring inequities for Black, brown and disabled learners.

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The former staffer cites the 2025 shutdown as the main cause, while advocates point to the administration’s broader policy agenda.

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• “This administration has repeatedly applied civil rights law in ways that ignore or dismiss the very real inequities that persist in our education system,” — Denise Forte, President and CEO, EdTrust

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• “This administration unfortunately has proposed a lot of policies that would make it less transparent on how students with disabilities in particular are being served in public schools,” — Lindsay Kubatzky, Director of Policy and Advocacy, National Center for Learning Disabilities

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• “Like, are our schools ready to usher in this wave of AI? Will all students have equal access to devices and internet capabilities?” — Former CRDC staffer (anonymous)

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• “We can't make the right decisions for students if we don't have insight into their current realities.” — Former CRDC staffer (anonymous)

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The OCR transfer to the Justice Department is slated for the coming months; Booker’s AP-expansion bill will be reintroduced, and advocates press for a prompt CRDC release.

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