New guidance intended to prevent unequal discipline policies in schools on the basis of students’ race.
The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidance to help educational institutions to promote safe and fair school discipline policies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI). The new guidance removes a previous allowance that used demographic data alone in determining discipline for disruptive behavior.
The department’s guidance notes, “Race-conscious discipline policies coincided with increased and repeated disruptive behavior, more missed days of school by victims of bullying and harassment, and high rates of teacher dissatisfaction.“ Guidance under previous administrations had warned schools “that racially neutral school discipline rules could violate Title VI if they disproportionately impacted students of one race more than another.“
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said that such policies “perversely required schools to discipline students differently, based on their race; it has prevented teachers from keeping their classrooms safe, put students in harm’s way, and severely compromised student learning opportunities.”
The assistant secretary explained that the updated guidance “clarifies Title VI’s legal requirements and ends these harmful practices. OCR will vigorously enforce Title VI to ensure that schools’ disciplinary systems are neutral and fair, and that they operate in a nondiscriminatory manner.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Assistant Secretary Richey as she seeks to ensure schools comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
- For Secretary McMahon as she works to ensure that states and local officials have what they need to effectively run their schools.
- For the administrators and teachers as they implement the updated guidelines.
Sources: Department of Education
