Biden Education Guide Argues Punishing Students for Skipping School Is Racist

A new resource guide from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice advises school districts that suspending a student who skips school is potentially discriminatory toward minority students.
The “Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline” outlines a range of actions that could be considered racially discriminatory because of a racially disparate impact, including suspending students who skip school.
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“Significant disparities by race – beginning as early as preschool – have persisted in the application of student discipline in schools,” Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a letter accompanying the resource. “While racial disparities in student discipline alone do not violate the law, ensuring compliance with Federal nondiscrimination obligations can involve examining the underlying causes of such disparities. In specific cases, the Departments and the courts have concluded that violations of the laws the Departments enforce underlie these disparities.”
The department’s resource, which was developed alongside the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division, highlighted several Office for Civil Rights investigations that exemplified the department’s definition of racially discriminatory actions.
According to the report, the department resolved an OCR i …