Fremont High School students in Oakland Unified use restorative justice circles to welcome newcomers, get to know each other and build bridges between different cliques and ethnic groups.Credit: Tatiana Chaterji / Oakland Unified
Top Takeaways
• Trump executive order challenges the concept that race-neutral policies can be discriminatory.
• Administration said focus on equity in discipline has harmed student safety, while advocates say it’s an excuse to roll back civil rights protections.
• Experts say executive order threatening to withhold funding from schools doesn’t have much bearing on California schools — for now.
The Trump administration, they’ve gone and done it, they’re criticizing California’s school discipline disparities. What’s the deal with that? That Trump executive order is stirring up quite the controversy. The administration is saying that focusing on equity in discipline has actually harmed student safety. But, like, advocates are saying that it’s just an excuse to roll back civil rights protections. Experts, they’re chiming in and saying that this executive order might not really do much to California schools right now.
So, Trump’s executive order, it’s shaking things up, right? They’re saying that if a policy seems all neutral and stuff, it might actually be harming a racial or ethnic group. Linda McMahon from the U.S. Department of Education, she’s saying that by putting racial equity quotas over student safety, schools are basically turning a blind eye to bad behavior. The previous Trump administration, they got rid of guidance from the Department of Education that was all about investigating reports of racial disparities in discipline. And now, this executive order is taking it a step further by threatening state agencies and districts that don’t follow Trump’s “colorblind” interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
California, they’ve got their School Dashboard, right? It’s raising awareness about suspension rates and stuff. But there’s still a lot of disparities when it comes to discipline. Black students, for example, they’re getting suspended more than white students. And California, they’re doing things, like banning schools from suspending students just for “defiance.” But, like, some people are saying that it’s not really working out.
There’s a lot of opinions flying around about this executive order. Some people are saying it’s a big deal and others are telling schools to just ignore it. John Affeldt, he’s saying that this threat to withhold funding from schools should just be brushed off. And Losen, he’s all about how disparities in discipline are a big deal and we need to address them.
Overall, this executive order from Trump, it’s got everyone talking. What’s gonna happen next? We’ll have to wait and see.
