Full Breakdown
Education Department Bars “Racial Balancing” in School Discipline Policies
8/20/2026, 4:21:58 AM
New Federal Guidance Bans Racial Consideration in School Discipline
On August 19, the U.S. The guidance instructs districts to refrain from using race-based data when shaping suspensions, expulsions, or other punitive measures.
Background and Recent Regulatory Changes
The guidance follows an April 23, 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump that ordered the Education Secretary to develop race-neutral discipline instructions. Earlier in the year, the department eliminated a set of regulations—some dating back 60 years—that recognized “disparate-impact” liability, a legal theory allowing schools to be held accountable when policies produce unequal outcomes even without intentional bias. Federal civil-rights data released in 2023 showed Black preschool children received out-of-school suspensions at a rate nearly twice their enrollment, Black boys were almost twice as likely as white boys to be suspended or expelled in K-12, and Black girls faced roughly double the rates of in-school and out-of-school suspensions and expulsions compared with white girls.
Official Statements & Responses
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly M. The letter asserts that Title VI and the Constitution prohibit intentional discrimination, not unintended statistical disparities, and that schools must adopt “facially neutral” discipline codes enforced evenly across races.
Criticism and Opposition
Civil-rights advocates contend the guidance ignores entrenched inequities. Adaku Onyeka-Crawford of the Advancement Project called the policy “cruel” and “poorly argued,” saying it threatens schools that strive to protect Black, Indigenous and other students of color. Conversely, Carolyn Gorman of the Manhattan Institute praised the “race-blind application of the law” as “very welcome common sense” and noted that ending the “whiplash” of shifting federal guidance would benefit schools.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Regrettably, prior administrations have imposed disparate-impact liability in the context of school discipline throughout the United States,” — Kimberly M. Richey, the assistant secretary for civil rights
- “This is an expansive view of this notion of race-blind application of the law,” — Eric Duncan, director of P-12 policy at EdTrust
- “In addition to being cruel, today’s guidance is poorly argued, relying on unsupported assertions, cherry-picked and out-of-context quotes, and misrepresentations of legal precedent,” — Adaku Onyeka-Crawford
- “Making discipline conditional on things other than an individual student’s behavior makes it harder for students to understand what the outcome of their behavior is going to be,” — Carolyn Gorman
