Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Press Release

Trump Administration Seeks to Cancel Misguided Obama-era School Discipline Policy

WILL work has championed rescinding the illegal, harmful policy

By - Dec 20th, 2018 09:11 am

The News: The Trump administration is preparing to cancel and rescind a 2014 Obama-era “Dear Colleague” letter intended to influence school suspension policies by threatening federal action if discipline policies resulted in a “disparate impact” on racial minorities. The Obama policy was intended to combat racial discrimination but resulted in unintended consequences.

Why It Matters: The Obama-era “Dear Colleague” letter was bad law and policy. It was an illegal exercise of administrative power and WILL research found the Obama-era suspension policies imposed on Wisconsin resulted in a negative impact on academic performance.

WILL Research: WILL conducted two studies on the effect of softer discipline policies on Wisconsin schools.

WILL in Action: In June 2018, WILL spearheaded a letter from conservative leaders across the country to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos encouraging the cancellation of the 2014 “Dear Colleague” letter.

The Bottomline: The Trump administration is ending an illegal and misguided attempt to address racial disparities in school suspensions. School leaders and local officials deserve the authority and trust to create and implement discipline policies without worrying about legal threats from bureaucrats in Washington D.C.

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NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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