ED and DOJ Release Resource on Discrimination in Student Discipline

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (DOJ) have jointly released a Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline. Providing 14 case studies that describe investigations of racial discrimination in student discipline, the resource describes what happened and how each instance was resolved. The list of action steps districts took serve as examples for ways in which other districts can preemptively avoid racial discrimination in student discipline.

An example from Durham, NC serves as a case in point. “OCR’s investigation identified compliance concerns with respect to racial discrimination against Black students and students with disabilities, including Black students with disabilities. OCR found that Black students were 6.1 times more likely to be suspended than white students.” The OCR investigation showed a statistically significant difference in the treatment of Black students and the district was found to be in noncompliance of federal civil rights laws. As a result, the district committed to action steps including implicit bias training, including community members in the development of discipline practices, and accurately collecting data to ensure nondiscrimination, and particularly as it pertains to contact with law enforcement officers and school resource officers.

View the resource here.