Trump’s 2025 Order: School Discipline & Racial Disparities

By Darius Spearman (africanelements)

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Trump School Discipline Order: Race-Neutral Mandate

A recent executive order from former President Trump targets how schools handle discipline. This order insists on race-neutral policies. It effectively ends federal guidance that specifically addressed racial disparities in school punishment (EdWeek). The core directive tells the Education Secretary to create new rules. These rules would forbid schools from considering a student’s race when making disciplinary decisions.

Schools that don’t follow these new race-neutral guidelines could face serious consequences, including losing federal funding (EdWeek). The administration argues that previous policies, focused on equity, led to more chaos in classrooms. They claim schools prioritized looking good on paper over actual student safety. Indeed, a 2018 Federal Commission on School Safety report suggested schools might have hidden student misconduct to avoid showing racial disparities (White House). This executive action also fits neatly into the broader goals of Project 2025. This conservative plan aims to undo policies that consider “disparate impact” – how seemingly neutral rules can negatively affect certain racial groups – and roll back restorative justice approaches (EdWeek).

Critics Warn: Racial Disparities in School Discipline May Worsen

Many civil rights advocates and educators strongly disagree with this new direction. They argue the order will likely worsen racial disparities that already plague our school systems. This could significantly harm students from marginalized communities, particularly Black students. Research consistently shows that Black students receive harsher discipline than their white peers, even for similar behaviors (EdWeek). Practices like suspension and expulsion are linked to higher dropout rates and even future incarceration, creating what many call the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Furthermore, advocates warn that the order undermines vital civil rights protections under Title VI (K-12 Dive). Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal funds. A key tool for enforcing this has been “disparate-impact analysis,” which examines whether policies, even if appearing neutral, disproportionately harm minority groups. By dismissing this analysis, the order could make it harder to address systemic discrimination embedded in school discipline practices. Consequently, major education groups like the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have condemned the order. They state it dangerously ignores the long history of bias against Black and brown students in American schools (EdWeek).

Reversing Obama-Era Guidance on Discipline

This 2025 executive order marks a significant policy reversal. It rolls back guidance established during the Obama administration. In 2014, the Obama administration issued guidance warning schools about discipline policies that resulted in racially disparate impacts (The Maine Wire). That guidance suggested such policies could violate federal civil rights law, even if the discrimination wasn’t intentional. It encouraged schools to adopt alternative strategies, like restorative justice, and carefully track discipline data by race (NBC Washington; ERIC).

However, Trump rescinded this guidance during his first term in 2018. The Biden administration later informally reinstated similar principles in 2023 (The Maine Wire). Now, the Trump administration claims the Biden-era approach forced schools to ignore dangerous student behavior simply to avoid unequal discipline numbers (White House). Therefore, this latest executive order reinforces a broader agenda aimed at dismantling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the board. This includes efforts targeting diversity training and affirmative action programs (Daily Wire).

Equity Ideology Ban: Impacts on Federal Agencies & DODEA Schools

The executive order’s reach extends beyond typical public schools. Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) schools, which serve military-connected families worldwide, are directly impacted. These schools have been given just 90 days to revise their discipline codes. They must remove any considerations based on race (Stars and Stripes). This rapid change forces a fundamental shift in how discipline is approached in these unique educational environments.

Additionally, the order signals potential changes within the federal government itself. Key offices responsible for upholding civil rights and conducting education research face potential cuts. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which investigates discrimination complaints, and the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), which studies educational effectiveness, could see staffing reductions (EdWeek). Such cuts might logically weaken the federal government’s ability to monitor and address discrimination in schools. Furthermore, the order mandates a federal report by August 2025. This report must analyze discipline practices influenced by DEI and recommend new model policies supposedly aligned with “American values” (Ground News), which proponents define as meritocracy and colorblindness (Fordham Institute; National Affairs).

Supporters: Restoring Safety and Merit with Title VI Enforcement?

Supporters of the 2025 executive order argue that it is a necessary step to restore order and fairness in schools. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, appointed under Trump, claimed that the previous administration under Biden prioritized “equity quotas” over student safety. She suggested this focus led to unchecked violence in schools (EdWeek). This narrative suggests that considering racial disparities inherently compromises safety.

Similarly, some Republican lawmakers have praised the move. Representative Tim Walberg, for instance, applauded the order for rejecting what he termed “racialized DEI” (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and promoting equal treatment based solely on behavior (K-12 Dive). Adding a personal perspective, Annette Albright, a teacher who reported being assaulted by students, supports stricter penalties. She claimed administrators sometimes ignore serious misconduct to avoid negative attention related to racial discipline data (Chalkbeat). Essentially, proponents believe the order enforces Title VI by ensuring individual actions, not race, determine consequences, thus restoring a merit-based system.

What Does “Race-Neutral” Mean for Racial Disparities in Education?

The push for “race-neutral” school discipline requires schools to ignore race completely when punishing students. The focus must be “solely on students’ behavior and actions” (NBC Washington; Chalkbeat). While sounding fair on the surface, critics point out a major flaw. This approach often ignores the reality of implicit bias and systemic issues. Research indicates Black students are often referred for discipline for more subjective reasons, like “disrespect” or “defiance,” compared to white students who engage in similar behavior (OSPI WA; NCLD).

Therefore, a policy that prevents acknowledging these patterns might simply allow them to continue unchecked. Proponents, however, argue that race-neutrality is the only truly fair approach. They contend it eliminates “racial preferencing” and rejects metrics designed specifically to measure racial disparities, such as the Relative Rate Index (RRI), which compares discipline rates across different racial groups (Fordham Institute; National Affairs). The fundamental disagreement lies in whether ignoring race in policy helps or harms the goal of achieving actual equity for students like ours.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darius Spearman is a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College, where he has been teaching since 2007. He is the author of several books, including Between The Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. You can visit Darius online at africanelements.org.