Title 20EducationRelease 119-73

§1713 Priority of remedies

Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 39— - EQUAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - EQUAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES › Part Part 4— - Remedies › § 1713

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

When a court or a federal agency fixes a denial of equal educational opportunity or equal protection that may involve student transportation, it must look at a list of possible fixes, say whether each one would work to correct the problem, and then require the first fix (or the first combination of fixes) on the list that will solve it. The list includes seven options: assign students to the nearest schools that offer the right grade and program (taking school size and natural barriers into account), a similar assignment that only considers school size, allow students to transfer from majority-race schools to minority-race schools, change attendance zones or grade structures without adding extra transportation beyond section 1714, build new schools or close poor ones, create magnet schools, or any other educationally sound and workable plan, subject to sections 1714 and 1715.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §1713

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In formulating a remedy for a denial of equal educational opportunity or a denial of the equal protection of the laws, which may involve directly or indirectly the transportation of students, a court, department, or agency of the United States shall consider and make specific findings on the efficacy in correcting such denial of the following remedies and shall require implementation of the first of the remedies set out below, or of the first combination thereof which would remedy such denial:
(a)assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account school capacities and natural physical barriers;
(b)assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account only school capacities;
(c)permitting students to transfer from a school in which a majority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin to a school in which a minority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin;
(d)the creation or revision of attendance zones or grade structures without requiring transportation beyond that described in section 1714 of this title;
(e)the construction of new schools or the closing of inferior schools;
(f)the construction or establishment of magnet schools; or
(g)the development and implementation of any other plan which is educationally sound and administratively feasible, subject to the provisions of section 1714 and 1715 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective on and after sixtieth day after Aug. 21, 1974, see section 2(c) of Pub. L. 93–380, set out as a note under section 1221–1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 1713

Title 20Education

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73