The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Following Arizona voters’ approval in 2010 of Proposition 107 -- which placed a ban on equal opportunity programs in public higher education, employment, and contracting -- state university officials are saying it is still too early to determine the law’s impact, according to reporting by Cronkite News.

More than 100 national leaders have launched the Time to Succeed Coalition (TSC), a diverse coalition of Americans working to ensure that all children in the nation’s high-poverty communities have the time they need to succeed in school and beyond.

• Concerns about Higher GED Costs. As Education Week reported on Thursday, The Leadership Conference will be meeting with a senior executive of the GED Testing Service to allay concerns that plans to redesign the exam will make it cost prohibitive for lower-income people.

• New App to Fight Racial Profiling at Airports. At a press event held this week at The Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., the Sikh Coalition launched a new iPhone and Android application called FlyRights that makes it easier for travelers to submit complaints about airport security directly to the Transportation Security Administration.

• Women, African Americans Hit Hardest by Public-Sector Layoffs. A new briefing paper by the Economic Policy Institute finds that Women and African Americans comprised about 70 percent and 20 percent respectively of the 765,000 jobs lost in state and local government between 2007 and 2011.

• A Critical Tool for Protecting Women. The Leadership Conference this week welcomed the passage of S.1925, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), in the U.S. Senate. The bill is now awaiting action in the House.

• Restoring Balance on the Use of Criminal Background Checks. A coalition of 55 national and local civil rights organizations this week applauded the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for clarifying the standards how employers should use criminal background checks.

• Keeping Student Loans Affordable. The Leadership Conference this week welcomed the introduction of the Stop Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012.

In Cincinnati, attorneys representing a wide range of groups including students, faculty and prospective applicants asked a 15-judge federal appeals court panel to uphold an earlier ruling that struck down Michigan’s ban on equal opportunity programs in public higher education, employment, and contracting.