On August 18, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued new guidance on student discipline and compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The message is straightforward: schools receiving federal funds must treat students equally and may not use race as a factor in disciplinary decisions.
That sounds simple. In practice, it represents a significant shift in federal education policy.
Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. For years, however, federal policy increasingly focused not only on whether schools intentionally discriminated, but also on whether discipline policies produced different outcomes among racial groups. That means interpreting intent and figuring out root causes of discipline issues.
The Obama administration’s 2014 school-discipline guidance encouraged schools to examine racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions and determine whether neutral policies had disproportionate and unjustified effects. The Trump administration rescinded that guidance in 2018. The Biden administration subsequently restored an emphasis on racial disparities through its 2023 guidance and resources.
The argument has always been legitimate on both sides.
Critics of the disparate-impact approach argued that schools were effectively pressured to achieve racial balance in discipline. If one group received more suspensions, administrators could feel compelled to reduce that disparity, even when differences reflected variations in student behavior. That approach risked turning discipline into a numbers game rather than a response to individual conduct.
Supporters countered that racial disparities can reveal problems that are not obvious from individual disciplinary decisions. They argued that schools need demographic data to identify patterns and determine whether policies are unintentionally producing unfair results. That ends up simply being a numbers game.
The new guidance takes the opposite position.
President Trump’s April 2025 executive orders directed the Department of Education to revisit federal discipline guidance and reject race-based approaches. In July 2026, the Department finalized a rule removing disparate-impact provisions from its Title VI regulations. The August 18 Dear Colleague Letter builds upon that change.
Under the new interpretation, statistical disparities alone do not establish a Title VI violation. Schools may collect and examine data, but they cannot change discipline policies or decisions because of racial outcomes. Students must be treated as individuals, not as representatives of a racial group.This distinction matters.
A student who violates a school rule should be disciplined according to the conduct involved, the circumstances, and the established policy—not according to the student’s race. A school should not impose a harsher consequence because of race, nor should it impose a more lenient consequence to achieve a desired demographic outcome either.
That does not mean schools must abandon other alternatives to suspension, such as counseling, intervention, or other practices. Those approaches can have an important place in education when they are applied fairly and consistently. The issue is whether race becomes part of the equation.
OCR has already demonstrated that this is not merely theoretical. The Department opened investigations in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over allegations that school officials encouraged or required consideration of race in disciplinary practices. Some have suggested the practice is also utilized in some districts in Tennessee. Those investigations in Arkansas and Wisconsin signal that the Department intends to enforce its new interpretation.
There is also a legitimate concern on the other side. If schools are prohibited from considering racial disparities in discipline, will some longstanding problems become harder to identify? Data can be valuable. Disparities deserve questions. But a disparity is a starting point for inquiry, not proof of discrimination. Disparities would be difficult to fix at the school level, without system and state buy-in.
Schools should still ask why students are being disciplined, whether rules are clear, whether consequences are consistent, whether teachers have adequate administrative support, and whether students and staff are safe. They should examine discipline data carefully—but behavior, not racial mathematics, should determine consequences.
The goal should not be racial proportionality. The goal should be fairness.
Every student deserves a safe classroom, meaningful instruction, and an education free from discrimination. Every teacher deserves the authority and support necessary to maintain order. Parents deserve confidence that discipline decisions are based on what their children actually do.
Equal treatment does not mean ignoring difficult data. It means refusing to treat individuals differently because of their race.
Schools should pursue both fairness and safety without sacrificing either one. We must keep the focus where it belongs: on individual students, individual behavior, consistent standards, and the responsibility to provide every child with an orderly environment in which to learn.
JC Bowman is the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee. He is a contributing editor to TriStar Daily.
