Dozens of leaders from across the country sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday, asking them not to remove an Obama-era federal guidance that sought to eliminate racial disparities in school discipline.
The 70 representatives – including leaders from charter schools, education organizations, and state and district education – cited studies that show several minority groups being suspended or expelled at a higher rate than other students. They asked that a 2014 Dear Colleague Letter, issued jointly by the Department of Education and Department of Justice, which aimed to help “identify, avoid, and remedy discriminatory discipline,” remain intact.
DeVos met with political leaders on both sides of the aisle in early April to discuss the guidance, which the letter says the secretary has publicly stated she is open to scrapping. Although DeVos told those attending the listening sessions that no decision had yet been made, civil rights groups have been fighting to maintain the guidance.
“I think it’s clear their intent is to pull the guidance,” said Brenda Shum, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who had attended the listening session, according to The Hill.
“It is unacceptable that students of color, students with disabilities, and students who identify as LGBTQQ experience harsher discipline than their peers,” the letter sent by the educators reads. “Exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions, are linked to students failing in school, to students not finishing school (either because they drop out and/or are pushed out), and often to a lifetime connected to a life-altering juvenile and adult justice system.”
DeVos rescinded an Obama-era guidance last year regarding how schools should handle sexual assault allegations on campus. She replaced the guidance, which required a “preponderance of evidence,” with a “clear and convincing” evidentiary standard.
