The number of higher education institutions and K-12 schools under review by the U.S. Department of Education over how they've handled sexual assault cases has continued to grow, as the agency responsible for the investigations prepares for a modest budget increase. As of Dec. 30, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights had 194 Title IX investigations open at 159 colleges and universities examining allegations the schools mishandled sexual assault cases. In addition, OCR is investigating 68 cases involving sexual violence at 63 K-12 schools and school districts. In light of a growing backlog of Title IX investigations, the Education Department pressed for more funding from Congress last year to hire more staff members. An Education Department report in 2015 noted that in the past 20 years, the number of discrimination and Title IX complaints had doubled, while its full-time staff shrunk by a third. [Related: Activists Take Aim At High Schools For Mishandling Sexual Assault ] The latest congressional spending agreement, passed in December , included an increase for OCR's budget from about $100 million to $107 million . That's short from President Barack Obama's proposal to increase OCR's funding in 2016 to $131 million, which the Education Department had said would allow it to hire at least 200 more full-time employees. "While the budget allocation is less than what President Obama requested, this money will help ens
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