[Breitbart] A federal school safety commission led by members of the Trump administration is recommending that the Departments of Justice and Education rescind the Obama-era school policy that urged more lenient forms of discipline in public schools for students of color and those of other minority groups.In its final report released Tuesday, the commission concluded the "guidance" issued by the Obama administration in 2014 "may have paradoxically contributed to making schools less safe."
Some education policy experts have observed the Broward County school district’s policy that includes consideration of race and minority status where discipline is concerned, inspired the Obama administration’s guidance and may have played a role in the fact that Nikolas Cruz remained under the radar until his shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida, on February 14.
The Obama-era Departments of Education and Justice ‐ under Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder ‐ issued school guidelines that claimed students of color are "disproportionately impacted" by suspensions and expulsions, a situation they said led to a "school-to-prison pipeline" that discriminates against minority and low-income students.
According to the Obama administration’s 2014 Dear Colleague letter (DCL), any school district whose disciplinary measures showed "disparate impact" ‐ meaning a disproportionately greater number of minority students are affected by disciplinary measures ‐ should be open to investigation by the Departments of Justice and Education, regardless of whether the behavior leading to the discipline is unacceptable.
Education policy analyst Max Eden, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, explains: