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Civil Rights Act - Title 4: Desegregation of Public Education
Definitions
Sec.
401. As used in this title --
(a)
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of
Education.
(b)
"Desegregation" means the assignment of
students to public schools and within such
schools without regard to their race,
color, religion, or national origin, but
"desegregation" shall not mean the assignment
of students to public schools in order to
overcome racial imbalance.
(c)
"Public school" means any elementary or
secondary educational institution, and "public
college" means any institution of
higher education or any technical or vocational
school above the secondary school level,
provided that such public school or
public college is operated by a State, subdivision
of a State, or governmental agency within
a State, or operated wholly or
predominantly from or through the use of
governmental funds or property, or funds
or property derived from a governmental
source.
(d)
"School board" means any agency or agencies
which administer a system of one or more
public schools and any other
agency which is responsible for the assignment
of students to or within such system.
Survey
and Report of Educational Opportunities
Sec.
402. The Commissioner shall conduct a survey
and make a report to the President and the
Congress, within two years of
the enactment of this title concerning the
lack of availability of equal educational
opportunities for individuals by reason
of race,
color religion, or national origin in public
educational institutions at all levels in
the United States, its territories and possessions,
and the District of Columbia.
Technical
Assistance
Sec.
403. The Commissioner is authorized, upon
the application of any school board, State,
municipality, school district, or
other governmental unit legally responsible
for operating a public school or schools,
to render technical assistance to such
applicant in the preparation, adoption,
and implementation of plans for the desegregation
of public schools. Such technical
assistance may, among other activities,
include making available to such agencies
information regarding effective methods
of
coping with special educational problems
occasioned by desegregation, and making
available to such agencies personnel of
the
Office of Education or other persons specially
equipped to advise and assist them in coping
with such problems.
Training
Institutes
Sec.
404. The Commissioner is authorized to arrange,
through grants or contracts, with institutions
of higher education for the
operation of short-term or regular session
institutes for special training designed
to improve the ability of teachers, supervisors,
counselors, and other elementary or secondary
school personnel to deal effectively with
special educational problems
occasioned by desegregation. Individuals
who attend such an institute on a full-time
basis may be paid stipends for the period
of
their attendance at such institute in amounts
specified by the Commissioner in regulations,
including allowances for travel to
attend such institute.
Grants
Sec.
405. (a) The Commissioner is authorized,
upon application of a school board, to make
grants to such board to pay, in
whole or in part, the cost of --
(1)
giving to teachers and other school personnel
inservice training in dealing with problems
incident to desegregation, and
(2)
employing specialists to advise in problems
incident to desegregation.
(b)
In determining whether to make a grant,
and in fixing the amount thereof and the
terms and conditions on which it will be
made, the Commissioner shall take into consideration
the amount available for grants under this
section and the other
applications which are pending before him;
the financial condition of the applicant
and the other resources available to it;
the
nature, extent, and gravity of its problems
incident to desegregation; and such other
factors as he finds relevant.
Payments
Sec.
406. Payments pursuant to a grant or contract
under this title may be made (after necessary
adjustments on account of
previously made overpayments or underpayments)
in advance or by way of reimbursement, and
in such installments, as the
Commissioner may determine.
Suits
by the Attorney General
Sec.
407. (a) Whenever the Attorney General receives
a complaint in writing --
(1)
signed by a parent or group of parents to
the effect that his or their minor children,
as members of a class of persons similarly
situated, are being deprived by a school
board of the equal protection of the laws,
or
(2)
signed by an individual, or his parent,
to the effect that he has been denied admission
to or not permitted to continue in attendance
at a public college by reason of race, color,
religion, or national origin,
and
the Attorney General believes the complaint
is meritorious and certifies that the signer
or signers of such complaint are unable,
in his judgment, to initiate and maintain
appropriate legal proceedings for relief
and that the institution of an action will
materially further the orderly achievement
of desegregation in public education, the
Attorney General is authorized, after giving
notice of such complaint to the appropriate
school board or college authority and after
certifying that he is satisfied that such
board or authority has had a reasonable
time to adjust the conditions alleged in
such complaint, to institute for or in the
name of the United States a civil action
in any appropriate district court of the
United States against such parties and for
such relief as may be appropriate, and such
court shall have and shall exercise jurisdiction
of proceedings instituted pursuant to this
section, provided that nothing herein shall
empower any official or court of the United
States to issue any order seeking to achieve
a racial balance in any school by requiring
the transportation of pupils or students
from one school to another or one school
district to another in order to achieve
such racial balance, or otherwise enlarge
the existing power of the court to insure
compliance with constitutional standards.
The Attorney General may implead as defendants
such additional parties as are or become
necessary to the grant of effective relief
hereunder.
(b)
The Attorney General may deem a person or
persons unable to initiate and maintain
appropriate legal proceedings within the
meaning of subsection (a) of this section
when such person or persons are unable,
either directly or through other interested
persons or organizations, to bear the expense
of the litigation or to obtain effective
legal representation; or whenever he is
satisfied that the institution of such litigation
would jeopardize the personal safety, employment,
or economic standing of such person or persons,
their families, or their property.
(c)
The term "parent" as used in this section
includes any person standing in loco parentis.
A "complaint" as used in this section is
a writing or document within the meaning
of section 1001, title 18, United States
Code.
Sec.
408. In any action or proceeding under this
title the United States shall be liable
for costs the same as a private person.
Sec.
409. Nothing in this title shall affect
adversely the right of any person to sue
for or obtain relief in any court against
discrimination in public education. Sec.
410. Nothing in this title shall prohibit
classification and assignment for reasons
other than race, color, religion, or national
origin.
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