US Tells Schools Not to Alter Discipline Policies to Reduce Racial Disparities

The U.S. Education Department ​has issued guidance urging schools to stop what it calls “racial balancing” ‌in student discipline policies, prompting concerns that the Trump administration is making it harder to address longstanding racial disparities in school discipline.

Federal civil rights data has shown Black students are ​disciplined at disproportionately high rates. An Education Department report released in 2023 ​found Black public preschool children received out-of-school suspensions at a rate ⁠nearly twice their enrollment.

The new guidance says schools cannot modify discipline policies ​simply to reduce such racial disparities.

A school’s decision “to change its discipline policies with ​the purpose of avoiding or reducing racial disparities in discipline constitutes race discrimination,” the Education Department’s office for civil rights said in a letter.

It said schools must ensure students are not treated ​differently because of race and that “racial balancing” constitutes discrimination.

{snip}