The President Signs an Executive Order Regarding School Discipline Policies
May 2025
Number 20
On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order for public schools to develop student discipline polices without consideration of disparate racial and ethnic impacts on students. The Executive Order states; “The Federal Government will no longer tolerate known risks to children’s safety and well-being in the classroom that result from the application of school discipline based on discriminatory and unlawful ‘equity’ ideology.” In summary, the Trump Administration has ordered that any student discipline policy that considers disparate impacts on students’ race, ethnicity, or other protected class are, themselves, discriminatory.
Prior Presidential Administrations
Through “Dear Colleague” letters, the Department of Education for the Obama and Biden Administrations issued guidelines to public schools that addressed how student discipline, particularly exclusionary discipline such as suspension and expulsion, disproportionately impacted students of color and students with disabilities. Specifically, the prior administrations believed that guidance to state and public-school districts should include how to identify, avoid, and remedy discriminatory discipline with the goals to ensure equal educational opportunities for students.
Executive Order Timeline
The Executive Order titled, “Reinstating Commonsense [sic] School Discipline Policies,” seeks to reverse the Obama and Biden Administrations’ guidance to public schools by “ensuring school discipline policies are based on objective behavior, not DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion].” The Executive Order implements the following timeline:
On May 1, 2025, in response to the Executive Order, the CDE stated, “Disproportionate discipline of students based on race is a real concern in our education system that should not be ignored or obfuscated by the Trump Administration….While the CDE takes issue with many of the assumptions and assertions made in the Trump letter, we do agree that discipline must be applied in a non-discriminatory fashion in accordance with state and federal laws.” The CDE cited to its own published guidance for how public schools can lawfully address disproportionality in school discipline on the CDE News Release website and on the CDE’s website school discipline page.
Takeaways
The Executive Order implies that it is discriminatory for public-school districts to consider disparate impacts on students’ race, ethnicity or other protected class when implementing their student discipline policies. Although the CDE agrees that student discipline must be applied in a non-discriminatory fashion, California has proactively made changes to its legislation to address how student discipline, particularly exclusionary discipline such as suspension and expulsion, disproportionately impacts students of color and students with disabilities. The California legislature has also promoted schools’ consideration of alternative disciplinary options including counseling, restorative justice meetings, behavior contracts, or safety plans, which are all intended to lessen the use of suspension and expulsion and ultimately reduce the disproportionate impacts on students in protected classes. We will continue to provide updates as the above-referenced deadlines approach and the Administration seeks to enforce the Executive Order.
If you have any questions about the Trump Administration’s reinstatement of “Commonsense School Discipline Policies,” please contact one of the authors of this Client News Brief, or an attorney at one of our eight offices located statewide. You can also subscribe to our podcast, follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn or download our mobile app.
Number 20
On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order for public schools to develop student discipline polices without consideration of disparate racial and ethnic impacts on students. The Executive Order states; “The Federal Government will no longer tolerate known risks to children’s safety and well-being in the classroom that result from the application of school discipline based on discriminatory and unlawful ‘equity’ ideology.” In summary, the Trump Administration has ordered that any student discipline policy that considers disparate impacts on students’ race, ethnicity, or other protected class are, themselves, discriminatory.
Prior Presidential Administrations
Through “Dear Colleague” letters, the Department of Education for the Obama and Biden Administrations issued guidelines to public schools that addressed how student discipline, particularly exclusionary discipline such as suspension and expulsion, disproportionately impacted students of color and students with disabilities. Specifically, the prior administrations believed that guidance to state and public-school districts should include how to identify, avoid, and remedy discriminatory discipline with the goals to ensure equal educational opportunities for students.
Executive Order Timeline
The Executive Order titled, “Reinstating Commonsense [sic] School Discipline Policies,” seeks to reverse the Obama and Biden Administrations’ guidance to public schools by “ensuring school discipline policies are based on objective behavior, not DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion].” The Executive Order implements the following timeline:
- Within thirty (30) days of the Executive Order date, the Secretary of Education, will issue new guidance to state and public-school districts, including the California Department of Education (CDE), regarding their obligation to not engage in racial discrimination under Title VI, including student discipline. Title VI is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities that receive federal funding. The Executive Order broadly states that the Secretary of Education will take appropriate action if state and public-school districts fail to comply with the new guidance.
- Within sixty (60) days of the Executive Order date, the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General will “initiate coordination with Governors and state Attorneys General regarding the prevention of racial discrimination in the application of school discipline.”
- Within ninety (90) days of the Executive Order date, the Secretary of Defense “shall issue a revised school discipline code that appropriately protects and enhances the education of the children of America’s military-service families.”
- Within one-hundred twenty (120) days of the Executive Order date, a report will be submitted to the President “regarding the status of discriminatory-equity-ideology-based school discipline and behavior modification techniques in American public education.” The report will identify non-profit organizations that do not comply with the Executive Order, and as a result, the report will provide recommendations to cease federal funding to such non-profit organizations.
On May 1, 2025, in response to the Executive Order, the CDE stated, “Disproportionate discipline of students based on race is a real concern in our education system that should not be ignored or obfuscated by the Trump Administration….While the CDE takes issue with many of the assumptions and assertions made in the Trump letter, we do agree that discipline must be applied in a non-discriminatory fashion in accordance with state and federal laws.” The CDE cited to its own published guidance for how public schools can lawfully address disproportionality in school discipline on the CDE News Release website and on the CDE’s website school discipline page.
Takeaways
The Executive Order implies that it is discriminatory for public-school districts to consider disparate impacts on students’ race, ethnicity or other protected class when implementing their student discipline policies. Although the CDE agrees that student discipline must be applied in a non-discriminatory fashion, California has proactively made changes to its legislation to address how student discipline, particularly exclusionary discipline such as suspension and expulsion, disproportionately impacts students of color and students with disabilities. The California legislature has also promoted schools’ consideration of alternative disciplinary options including counseling, restorative justice meetings, behavior contracts, or safety plans, which are all intended to lessen the use of suspension and expulsion and ultimately reduce the disproportionate impacts on students in protected classes. We will continue to provide updates as the above-referenced deadlines approach and the Administration seeks to enforce the Executive Order.
If you have any questions about the Trump Administration’s reinstatement of “Commonsense School Discipline Policies,” please contact one of the authors of this Client News Brief, or an attorney at one of our eight offices located statewide. You can also subscribe to our podcast, follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn or download our mobile app.