The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is urging teachers across the nation to address the “troubling” rise of harassment and bullying of Asian students amid the spread of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19.
“There has been an increasing number of news reports regarding stereotyping, harassment, and bullying directed at persons perceived to be of Chinese American or, more generally, Asian descent, including students,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kenneth L. Marcus wrote in a Mar. 4 letter to educators. Marcus said the rise of such incidents is a “particular concern” of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
