Parents Defending Education’s Comments on the Department of Education’s Request for Information Regarding the Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline

On July 23, Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education in response to their request for information, Docket ID ED-2021-OCR-0068.

As the comments note, “ Reinstating [the 2014 Dear Colleague] guidance will create perverse incentives for school officials to avoid onerous and costly enforcement actions launched by the federal government by—paradoxically—making disciplinary decisions based on race. OCR is inviting school officials to do it exactly what it (erroneously) fears they are doing now: adopt disciplinary policies that discriminate against students on the basis of race, regardless of individual circumstances.”

“If the Department of Education is concerned about discrimination in discipline, more discrimination is not the solution,” said Neily. “Teachers and principals at the local level are best situated to address disciplinary issues and ensure the well-being of their communities. Every student is a unique individual and should be treated as such, regardless of his or her race or sex.”

PDE’s full comments can be found here.