(José Niño, Headline USA) The U.S. Department of Education stripped disparate impact provisions out of its Title VI regulations last week, The College Fix reported, ending federal treatment of race neutral school policies as civil rights violations whenever the resulting numbers break unevenly along racial lines.
The Office for Civil Rights announced the rewrite in a July 23 news release issued under Executive Order 14281.
“Disparate-impact provisions allow demographic data alone to establish that a school violated federal civil rights laws, even if there is no facially discriminatory policy, practice, or discriminatory intent involved,” the department wrote.
Those rules pushed districts into racial balancing to stay in compliance, the department argued, and the rewrite delivers on President Donald Trump’s promise to restore equality of opportunity and meritocracy. Officials singled out the Obama administration for turning the standard into a weapon that forced schools to weigh race in disciplinary decisions.
“A child is so much more than a number in a data set. The left’s notion of ‘equity’ should never prevent teachers from keeping their classrooms and students safe. With these changes, schools will be empowered to address classroom issues without fearing the federal government will weaponize antidiscrimination laws,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said.
As The College Fix noted, the standard has landed hardest on student discipline, a point the Washington Times echoed. National data shows black students drawing suspensions and expulsions at higher rates, and racial justice organizations spent years pressing districts to narrow that gap. The rule was published and took effect immediately, skipping the public comment period.
60 civil rights and educational advocacy groups condemned the department in a letter.
“Today’s action has no basis in law or morality and is further evidence that this administration is determined to undermine our laws, abandon civil rights enforcement, and deny the existence of systemic discrimination,” they wrote in a press release issued by the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund.
Michael Pillera of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law warned that districts will keep policies producing lopsided results once administrators understand Washington will not investigate.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
