Biden: Suspending Minority Students for Skipping School is Racist.

Biden Administration Claims School Discipline Has Racist Motivations

The Biden administration has released a memo titled “Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline,” which argues that racism is pervasive in school disciplinary systems. The memo claims that minority students are disproportionately disciplined for minor infractions such as truancy and dress code violations, and that this discrimination begins as early as preschool. The Justice Department has already taken action to address this issue, including pressuring a Maryland school district to stop suspending students for truancy and instead use “restorative practices” like conflict resolution and reflective writing assignments.

Accusations of Racism in Public Education

This is not the first time that the Biden administration has accused public educators of racism. In fact, the administration has a long history of making such claims. In 2021, education policy expert Kayla Patrick blamed “whiteness” for creating a “racist” student disciplinary system in public schools across the country. Just months later, Biden’s Education Department appointed Patrick to run its Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.

According to Patrick, “Nearly 80 percent of the teachers are white. And sometimes their mindsets are based solely in whiteness. So that means when they come into school, they have predisposed mindsets about who black children are, what they need to wear, and how they need to behave. And so instead of celebrating their identities and cultures, schools often erase them.”

Investigations and Outcomes

The Wednesday memo from the Education and Justice Departments outlines several investigations into alleged racism in school disciplinary systems. In one case, a Maryland school district agreed to stop using “exclusionary discipline” to address truancy and other misconduct, instead opting for “behavioral support plans, reflective writing assignments, conflict resolution, and restorative practices.” In another case, a North Carolina district agreed to provide “implicit bias training for district staff,” involve the community in developing student discipline practices, and implement “alternatives to suspensions.”

However, the memo is at odds with other federal government findings on school discipline. Last year, research from the National Institutes of Health indicated that students in lower socio-economic classes “received more childcare provider behavioral complaints” than white and minority children of higher socio-economic status. The Biden administration’s memo did not address the impact of economic factors on student discipline rates.