Top Democrats Condemn Trump Executive Orders Repealing “Disparate Impact” Enforcement and School Discipline Protections
WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08), House Committee on the Judiciary released the following statements in response to President Trump’s executive order entitled, “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” and “Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies.” To see how this action is part of President Trump’s agenda to benefit billionaires and corporations at the expense of workers, students, and families, read pages 334-336 and 582-584 of Project 2025 here.
Ranking Member Scott
“Under the guise of eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Trump Administration issued a slew of education related executive orders that ignores this nation’s history and continued reality of resisting equal educational opportunities to all of America’s students. In fact, through massive resistance, states and communities adopted policies and practices – through funding, disciplinary practices, to name a few – that disproportionately and negatively impact students of color and students with disabilities.
“For example, the research shows that school discipline practices, while they may not have a discriminatory intent behind them, can have a discriminatory impact in practice. Such as, school dress codes more frequently restrict items typically worn by girls. And rules about hair and head coverings can disproportionately impact Black students and those of certain religions and cultures.
“The impact of such policies is that girls, students of color, or students of certain religions and cultures are more likely to be disciplined, which we know increases the chances of removal from a class, negatively impacting their learning and development. While the intent of the policy may not be to discriminate, the impact is discriminatory, and therefore it must be altered so as not to unfairly deny students an opportunity to succeed. Without disparate-impact liability, these types of discriminatory policies will go unchecked.
“Requiring proof of discriminatory intent is an impossibly high bar for many clearly discriminatory policies. When evidence of intent is illusive, why would we require victims to prove it to end a policy that is obviously discriminatory in effect?
“These executive orders are part of this Administration’s efforts to dismantle Americans’ fundamental civil rights protections and do nothing to address the disparate impact of funding disparities and disciplinary practices that contribute to educational performance gaps. Regrettably by eliminating the use of disparate-impact liability, Americans are now more likely to be denied ‘equality of opportunity,’ and it will be harder for Americans to succeed based ‘solely on their merit. This is underscored by this Administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, the very office responsible to review claims of disparate impact and intentional discrimination.
“Over 70 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, we are still grappling with inequities in education. That is why Congress must pass the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act which would restore the private right of action for students and parents to hold schools accountable for practices and policies that have a disparate impact and deny students access to a quality education based on race, color or national origin. This bill also requires that every school has a Title VI monitor to ensure prompt investigations of complaints of discrimination. Since the Trump Administration has shown they will not, Congress must allow impacted parents and students the right to seek remedy for policies and biases that are in fact discriminatory, regardless of intent.”
Ranking Member Raskin
“These executive orders are part of President Trump’s all-out assault on public education and our civil rights as President Trump tries to turn back the clock on decades of progress since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He has already dismantled the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which is responsible for enforcing the law and protecting students from unlawful and unconstitutional discrimination. Now he wants to strip away the legal provisions which ensure that discrimination has no part in funding and disciplinary practices at schools and universities and that protect the right of every child in America to education and an equal opportunity to succeed.
"House Democrats will fight tooth and nail against these orders and against any effort to return us to a time when millions of America’s children did not enjoy equal protection of the law.”
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