It is widely accepted that protecting civil rights is a cornerstone of the federal role in American education. But exactly how and how far the federal government should go about carrying out that responsibility – well, that’s another story. At the center of those debates is the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

In this week’s episode, Marty West talks with Shep Melnick about how the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights works and what is likely to change under the Trump administration.

Shep Melnick, the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Professor of American Politics at Boston College, is the author of a new post on the EdNext blog entitled “How civil rights enforcement got swept into the culture wars, and what a new administration can do about it.”

The EdNext Podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and here every Wednesday.

—Education Next