Download the PDF: School Discipline and Disparate Impact

The Department of Education engaged in a Fall 2010 Disparate Impact Initiative, which examined whether there were racial disparities in school discipline. In response, the Commission held a briefing in February 2011 to examine how schools were responding to the initiative. Witnesses discussed the roots of disruptive behavior, discipline strategies, problems with a disparate impact approach to discipline, and whether it is advisable to use disparate impact to enforce Title VI in the wake of Alexander v. Sandoval.  The witnesses included teachers, school administrators, and representatives of the Department of Education.