The U.S. Department of Education announced new federal guidance and investigations into two school districts on Tuesday, instructing schools to stop considering a student's race when determining discipline. The Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) warned school administrators that weighing discipline policies with any consideration of race, even to address disparities, is discriminatory and illegal under federal law.
The move marks a shift from policies established during the Obama and Biden administrations, which encouraged schools to analyze discipline data for racial disparities. Previous guidance from 2014 and 2023 cautioned that significant differences in suspension rates among racial groups could trigger federal investigations. In contrast, the current administration argues that such policies led schools to ignore misconduct to avoid "racial balancing" and created less safe classrooms.
The Education Department is currently investigating Fayetteville Public Schools in Arkansas and Milwaukee Public Schools. Officials stated Fayetteville teachers were allegedly directed to consider racial identities to address discipline disproportionality, while Milwaukee leaders were accused of encouraging race-based practices by labeling neutral policies as reflecting "whiteness." Fayetteville Superintendent John Mulford said the district was "in the dark" regarding the specific allegations but welcomed the investigation to ensure compliance.
The scale of the change is reflected in national data: as of 2018, the share of students suspended at least once was 4.7%. Under previous guidance, Hispanic students saw a 30% drop in suspensions, and Black students, who once made up 15% of the population but 44% of multiple suspensions, also saw declines. Families and students will notice this change through a return to traditional discipline methods, as the current administration has pledged to support the "immediate suspension of violent students" and move away from "restorative justice" models that prioritize mediation over punishment.
The knock-on effects include a potential reversal of school district policies that were implemented over the last decade to reduce suspension rates. Legal experts and civil rights groups like EdTrust argue that removing race from the conversation makes existing disparities invisible, while the current OCR head, Kimberly Richey, maintains that the previous approach broke the law by requiring "racial balance." The new guidance went into effect in August 2026, and school districts that continue to monitor or adjust discipline based on race now face the risk of losing federal funding or facing OCR investigations. Admissions and disciplinary boards will now have to navigate these rules as they manage classroom behavior and safety moving forward.