Equal Educational Opportunities Act

Equal Educational Opportunities Act - Declares it to be the policy of the United States that all children enrolled in public schools are entitled to equal educational opportunity without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin; and that the neighborhood is the appropriate basis for determining public school assignments. States that the purpose of this Act is to authorize concentration of resources under the Emergency School Aid Act on educationally deprived students and to specify appropriate remedies for the orderly removal of the vestiges of the dual school system. Title I: Assistance - Provides financial assistance for educationally deprived students entolled in schools with a high proportion of students from low-income families, or transferring from such schools to schools enrolling a lower proportion of students from low-income families. Authorizes grants from State educational agencies to local educational agencies adopting and implementing plans for such students. Sets requirements for State educational agency plans and applications under this section. Authorizes appropriations for payments to States under this section of $500,000,000 for each fiscal year. Provides for judicial review for a State following final action on its plan. Title II: Unlawful Practices - States that no State shall deny equal educational opportunity to an individual on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, by: (1) the deliberate segregation by an educational agency of students on the basis of race, color, or national origin among or within schools; (2) the failure of an educational agency which has formerly practiced such deliberate segregation to take affirmative steps, consistent with title IV of this Act, to remove the vestiges of a dual school system; (3) the assignment by an educational agency of a student to a school, other than the one closest to his or her place of residence within the school district in which he or she resides, if the segregation of students on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin among the schools of such agency that would result if such student were assigned to the school closest to his or her place of residence within the school district of such agency providing the appropriate grade level and type of education for such student; (4) discrimination by an educational agency on the basis of race, color, or national origin in the employment, employment conditions, or assignment to schools of its faculty or staff, except to fulfill the purposes of subsection (6) below; (5) the transfer by an educational agency, whether voluntary or otherwise, of a student from one school to another if the purpose and effect of such transfer is to increase segregation of students on the basis of race, color, or national origin among the schools of such agency; or (6) the failure by an educational agency to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs. States that the failure of an educational agency to attain a balance, on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin, of students among its schools shall not constitute a denial of equal educational opportunity, or equal protection of the laws. States that the assignment by an educational agency of a student to the school nearest his place of residence which provides the appropriate grade level and type of educational of such student is not a denial of equal educational opportunity or of equal protection of the laws unless such assignment is for the purpose of segregating students on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin, or the school to which such student is assigned was located on its site for the purpose of segregating students on such basis. Title III: Enforcement - Provides for a civil action for appropriate relief in an appropriate district court by an individual denied an equal educational opportunity as defined by this Act, or by the Attorney General in his behalf. States that when a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a school system is desegregated, or that it meets the constitutional requirements, or that it is a unitary system, or that it has no vestiges of a dual system, and thereafter residential shifts in population occur which result in school population changes in any school within such a desegregated school system, such school population changes so occurring shall not, per se, constitute a cause for civil action for a new plan of desegregation or for modification of the court approved plan. Title IV: Remedies - Provides that in formulating a remedy for a denial of equal educational opportunity or a denial of the equal protection of the laws, which may involve the transportation of students, a court, department or agency of the United States shall require implementation of the first of the remedies set out below, or on the first combination thereof which would remedy such denial: (1) assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account school capacities and natural physical barriers; (2) assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account only school capacities; (3) permitting students to transfer from a school in which a majority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin to a school in which a minority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin; (4) the creation or revision of attendance zones or grade structures without requiring transportation beyond that described in this title; (5) the establishment of new or magnet schools or the closing of inferior schools; or (6) the development and implementation of any other plan which is educationally sound and administratively feasible, subject to the provisions of this title. Prohibits a court or department order that would require the transportation of any student to a school other than the school closest or next closest to his place of residence which provides the appropriate grade level and type of education for such student. Prohibits a transportation order where such transportation would pose a risk to the health of a student or constitute a significant impingement on his educational process. Prohibits the requirement of a new desegregation plan involving transportation of students where residential shifts in population occur in previously approved desegregated school systems. Provides that State-drawn school district lines shall not be ignored or altered except where it is established that the lines were drawn for the purpose, and had the effect, of segregating children among public schools on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin. Permits an educational agency to propose voluntarily or implement a desegregation plan, otherwise lawful, at variance with the standards set out in this title. Provides that upon application of an educational agency, court orders, or desegregation plans under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in effect at enactment of this Act and intended to end segregation of students on the basis of race, color, or national origin, shall be reopened and modified to comply with the provisions of this Act. Provides that any court order requiring, directly or indirectly, the transportation of students for the purpose of remedying a denial of the equal protection of the laws shall, to the extent of such transportation, be terminated if the court finds the defendant educational agency is not effectively excluding any person from any school because of race, color, or national origin, and this shall be so, whether or not the schools of such agency were in the past segregated de jure or de facto. Provides that no additional order requiring such educational agency to transport students for such purpose shall be entered unless such agency is found to be effectively excluding any person from any school because of race, color, or national origin, and this shall be so, whether or not the schools of such agency were in the past segregated de jure or de facto. Requires the termination of any court order requiring the desegregation of a school system if the court finds the schools of the defendant educational agency are a unitary school system, one within which no person is to be effectively excluded from any school because of race, color, or national origin, and this shall be so, whether or not such school system was in the past segregated de jure or de facto. Provides that no additional order shall be entered against such agency for such purpose unless the schools of such agency are no longer a unitary school system. Title V: Definitions - Defines the terms used in this Act. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals the provision of Emergency School Aid Act authorizing the construction of integrated education parks. States that if any provision or application of this Act is held invalid, the remainder of the provisions of this Act and of the amendments made by this Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected therefy.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 18, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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