DNC Chair and former Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice Tom Perez released the following statement after the Department of Education began dismissing hundreds of civil rights cases in the name of “efficiency.” The dismissals are targeting thousands of cases to protect the rights of students of color and students with disabilities, resulting in more than 500 cases being dismissed just since last month:

“Betsy DeVos seems to think the pursuit of justice is inconvenient. This is worse than lazy, it’s dangerous. Her dismissive treatment of serious civil rights violations is not ‘efficient.’ It’s a gross abdication of duty and a disservice to millions of children and their families who face injustices every day. And it’s an affront to the mission of the Education Department and all those who have fought tirelessly to put that mission into action.

“I worked on civil rights cases during the Obama administration, and we understood that federal enforcement is often the last recourse families have when their rights have been violated. That’s why responding to these cases is critically important. The pursuit of justice is not an option. It is an obligation.”