Detroit students say education policies violate their civil rights

Some students, parents, and education advocates from Detroit and Highland Park will testify at a federal hearing in Washington this week.

They are part of a nationwide group speaking out against changes in Detroit and other poor school districts.

The group alleges that some of the measures, particularly closing neighborhood schools, have “sabotaged and destabilized” education for many children.

Helen Moore is with the Detroit-based group Keep the Vote-No Takeover.

She said the group wasn’t getting far fighting these measures at the local level.

“So we looked at all the evidence that we had before us. And it ended where we thought, maybe we need to go around the city. And all of us need to combine our efforts, and deal with it on the federal level,” Moore said.

Moore said students and others will testify before U.S. Education Department officials.

The department announced last week that it would investigate several claims that local and state education policies violate Detroit students’ civil rights.