New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and the state's Division on Civil Rights announced on July 23, 2026, the creation of the Education and Public Accommodations Enforcement Section, a unit dedicated to investigating discrimination complaints in K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and other places covered by the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). The new section is among the first state-level responses to a sharp reduction in federal civil rights enforcement in schools.
What the new unit will do
The section will investigate complaints of bias-based harassment and bullying, failures to provide disability accommodations, language-access barriers affecting English-language learners, and disparate school discipline. It will also handle discrimination claims in places of public accommodation. The unit does not have jurisdiction over curriculum disputes or Individualized Education Programs; those matters remain with the New Jersey Department of Education.
The section is housed within the Division on Civil Rights' Investigations Unit. Its leadership includes Deputy Director Michael Campion, Chief Legal Specialist Chiqueena Lee, and Chief of Investigations Justin Hoffer. No specific staffing headcount or budget allocation was disclosed in the announcement, according to the New Jersey Globe. The Division on Civil Rights is partnering with the National Center for Youth Law to develop a training program for the new unit.
Division officials cited a recent probable-cause finding involving Ridgewood Public Schools as an example of the enforcement work the section will support. The Division on Civil Rights found probable cause to believe a teacher at Ridgewood's Glen School discriminated against and harassed a four-year-old student with Down syndrome by wrapping packing tape around the child's ankles and shoes. A probable-cause finding is not a final determination of discrimination; the case could proceed to conciliation or, if that fails, to Superior Court or the Office of Administrative Law.
The federal gap the unit is designed to fill
The U.S. Department of Education closed seven of its 12 Office for Civil Rights regional offices in March 2025, including the office that served New Jersey, as part of a Reduction-in-Force affecting 299 of OCR's approximately 575 staff. The Education Department rescinded the Reduction-in-Force in early January 2026 after court injunctions, but agency officials said they remained committed to separating the staff in the future, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported.
From March 11 to September 23, 2025, OCR received 9,269 complaints and resolved 7,072. About 90 percent (6,353) were resolved by dismissal without investigation. Only 719 were resolved through insufficient-evidence findings, voluntary agreements, settlements, or technical assistance, according to GAO data.
A U.S. Senate report found that OCR reached just 112 resolution agreements in calendar year 2025, the fewest in at least 12 years. Those 112 agreements represent 1 percent of the 11,985 civil rights cases pending as of January 14, 2025. The report also found OCR reached zero resolution agreements in 2025 involving sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion or restraint, racial harassment, or discriminatory school discipline.
What the research says about complaint dismissal rates
GAO analyzed historical OCR data and found that dismissal rates varied significantly with changes in agency guidance. Dismissal rates ranged from 49 percent of resolved complaints in school year 2010-11 to 81 percent in 2019-20, before reaching approximately 90 percent in 2025. GAO concluded that dismissal rates are sensitive to administrative policy changes, not solely to the volume or merit of complaints.
The GAO also evaluated the financial impact of the Reduction-in-Force. It found the March 2025 action cost the federal government approximately $28.5 million to $38 million in salaries and benefits for 299 staff placed on paid administrative leave from March through December 2025, while the agency simultaneously dismissed 90 percent of complaints. The GAO recommended that the Education Department estimate the full costs and savings of the restructuring. The department disagreed, citing its rescission of the Reduction-in-Force in January 2026.
The New Jersey unit's creation places state-level enforcement where the federal presence has receded. Its structure could inform other states evaluating their own enforcement capacity.