Trump is curbing federal remedies for racial disparities in schools: the Education Department rescinded a rule letting schools compare outcomes by race and warned against considering race in discipline. DOJ says it has closed over 50 desegregation cases since he took office.
Federal and state data have shown that students of color, especially Black students, are more likely to be removed from class for similar infractions; research links suspensions to disengagement and worse academic outcomes. The Education Department says the Obama and Biden administrations used disparate-impact enforcement to pressure schools into race-differentiated discipline, which it says harmed safety and learning; critics warn the rollback could make discrimination easier. A federal investigation into a complaint alleging Black boys with disabilities were disproportionately removed from Denver classrooms stalled after Trump returned to office; state authorities found civil-rights violations and ordered new training.
In January, a federal court granted DOJ and the DeSoto Parish School Board’s request to end the Louisiana district’s desegregation order. The order had allowed transfers from racially isolated schools with transportation and was still used in 2024 to ensure equal access to extracurriculars. A few months after it was lifted, the district stopped accepting new transfer applications and said students in the program would have to return to their zoned schools after finishing the highest grade at their current school.
