Washington — President Obama plans to nominate Russlynn Ali, who has held several positions with education advocacy groups, as the Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights.
The education secretary, Arne Duncan, today announced the plan to nominate Ms. Ali for the post, which heads the department’s Office for Civil Rights and oversees enforcement of civil-rights laws affecting education, including Title IX, covering gender discrimination, and Title VII, covering racial discrimination. Ms. Ali is vice president of the Education Trust and executive director of its West Coast-based partner organization, Education Trust-West.
“Russlynn brings passion for, expertise in, and dedication to equality and fairness in education, and her tireless work and commitment have changed the lives of low-income students from across the nation,” Mr. Duncan said in a news release issued this morning. “I very much look forward to working with her.”
The Education Trust groups work to promote high academic achievement, with an emphasis on serving Hispanic, black, Native American, and low-income students, the news release notes.
Ms. Ali previously served as liaison to the president of the Children’s Defense Fund, as chief of staff to the president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, and as deputy co-director of the Advancement Project, a Washington-based advocacy group that describes itself as dedicated to promoting racial justice. Before that, she practiced corporate and civil-rights law and served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern California School of Law.
William L. Taylor, chairman of the Citizens Commission on Civil Rights, which monitors federal civil-rights enforcement, said today that Ms. Ali was known more for her work as an “education reformer” than for civil-rights advocacy. But, he said, he welcomed her nomination because she has shown a commitment to helping minority students in her various posts with education groups.
“I think she is a strong advocate for children,” Mr. Taylor said. —Peter Schmidt
