REINSTATING COMMONSENSE, NON-DISCRIMINATORY SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICIES: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to restore safety and order in American classrooms by ensuring school discipline policies are based on objective behavior, not DEI.
- The Order requires new guidance to local and state educational agencies regarding school discipline, emphasizing compliance with Title VI protections against racial discrimination and preferencing.
- It calls for appropriate action against educational agencies that fail to comply with Title VI by continuing to use racially preferential discipline practices.
- The Order requires a report to the President that includes an analysis of DEI-based school discipline and its consequences, measures to ensure that federal funds do not support racially preferential policies, including through nonprofit organizations, and proposing model discipline policies rooted in American values.
ENSURING SAFETY AND ORDER IN AMERICAN CLASSROOMS: President Trump is taking action to combat the increased levels of classroom disorder and school violence that teachers and students are facing due to flawed Obama-Biden policies.
- In 2014, the Obama Administration issued guidance pressuring schools (including with threatened loss of federal funding) to impose discipline in a manner designed to equalize disciplinary rates by race, rather than simply imposing discipline based on objective behavior alone.
- As a result, students were disciplined differently depending on their race, and some students who should have been suspended or expelled for dangerous behavior remained in the classroom.
- A 2018 Federal Commission on School Safety report found that schools ignored or covered up student misconduct to avoid federal scrutiny over racial disparities in discipline data.
- Following the 2018 report, President Trump rescinded the Obama-era guidance.
- In 2023, the Biden Administration reinstated the Obama practice of weaponizing Title VI to promote a DEI approach to school discipline, which makes schools less safe.
MAKING AMERICA’S EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS GREAT AGAIN: President Trump prioritizes the needs of students, parents, and teachers over the demands of teachers’ unions, ensuring policies serve the interests of American families first.
- President Trump eliminated divisive DEI programs in classrooms to foster unity and focus on academic excellence.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order to expand educational freedom and opportunity for families.
- President Trump directed the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States to better serve children.
- President Trump prohibited federal funding for COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order to keep men out of women’s sports and locker rooms.