A parental rights group sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education Thursday calling on it to undo an Obama and Biden-era rule warning schools that if they discipline minority students more than white students they could lose federal funding, regardless of how many actual incidents require discipline for any group.
Parents Defending Education sent the letter pointing to a “Dear Colleague” letter sent out by the Biden administration, calling it “unlawful and “unConstitutional.”
Letters of this kind are how the Education Department issues new guidance for schools and lets them know that they could lose federal funding if they do not comply.
The colleague letter in question is the “School Discipline Letter” issued by the Education Department and the Department of Justice in May of 2023 which argued that racial disparities in discipline at public schools was a result of racial discrimination.
“Despite clear Supreme Court precedent holding that disparate impact alone cannot support a Title VI violation, the School Discipline Letter states that racial disparities in school discipline outcomes are prima facie evidence of racial discrimination, even when a school’s disciplinary code is race neutral,” the letter said.
President Barack Obama instituted the same policy in 2014, but it was overturned during President Donald Trump’s first term only to be reinstituted by Biden. Now, PDE is calling on Trump to overturn it again.
“Besides being unlawful and unconstitutional, the Department’s current approach is indefensible as a matter of public policy,” the letter said. “It forces school districts, by threat of financial pain, to abandon equal-handed policies that promote student safety and preserve an orderly learning environment. Put simply, the School Discipline Letter undermines teachers’ authority at a time when they need it the most.”
Under the federal guidance, schools are required to discipline students equally by race, regardless of how much students actually acted up and needed discipline. Schools that refused to do so could lose federal funding.
PDE points to court precedent showing that disparities alone do not prove illegal discrimination. The group also argues the policy made schools less safe.
“Violence and disruptive behavior have increased in K-12 schools over the past few years, harming students and teachers alike,” PDE’s letter said. “There were at least 857,500 violent incidents in public schools during the 2021-22 school year, the most recent year for which data from the National Center for Education Statistics is available. A 2024 report by the American Psychological Association described “school violence” as an ‘epidemic.’ According to the APA, teachers have reported a ‘sharp rise’ in ‘rates of verbal and threatening aggression’ and ‘physical violence’ in their classrooms, with nearly 80% of survey respondents agreeing that misconduct is becoming more prevalent.”
Biden’s Department of Education released another Dear Colleague letter in December of last year reminding schools they could face an investigation for breaking the rule.
“The Departments recognize that disparities in student discipline rates in a school or district may be caused by a range of factors,” that letter said. “However, research suggests that the substantial racial disparities of the kind reflected in the CRDC data are not explained by more frequent or more serious misbehavior by students of color.”
