Betsy DeVos should reverse Obama's failed school discipline policy

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made headlines in June when she reversed former President Barack Obama's policy regarding transgender bathrooms, for which he had issued via a "guidance" letter. Obama had used this tactic to expand federal control over state governments.

DeVos is now being urged to reverse Obama-era disciplinary guidance as well. She should do so. Obama's policy was driven by progressive ideology rather than sound science and research. It is hurting students across the country and demoralizing hardworking teachers.

A new study from the Wisconsin Institute for Law amd Liberty, or WILL, shows that Obama's policy has contributed to a massive decrease in suspensions in Wisconsin public schools, subverted local control over disciplinary policies, and, in cases, made schools and teachers less safe.

WILL's study finds that, since 2008, suspensions in public schools in Wisconsin have decreased by 41 percent, similar to the pattern seen across the country. From the 2011-12 school year to the 2013-14 school year, suspensions dropped nationwide by 20 percent. Since 2011, the Manhattan Institute shows more than 50 of the nation's largest school districts have put in place discipline reforms and 27 states have changed their laws to reduce "exclusionary discipline" (i.e. suspensions).

Our study questions the Obama administration's premise that suspensions are race-based. The Obama administration looked at national data from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights collected during the 2013-2014 school year and found that minority students were being suspended at higher rates than white students. Academics disagree about whether these disparities are due to racial biases among educators or to real differences in the behavior of students. While this complex issue is far from settled, the Obama administration came down squarely on one side: It's the fault of discrimination by public schools.