Murray Statement on DeVos Decision to Rescind Guidance Aimed At Fighting Racism in Schools

Departments of Education and Justice rescinded guidance aimed at ending discipline practices that unfairly target students of color

Murray: “It is absolutely shameful that Secretary DeVos and Acting Attorney General Whitaker are using the guise of school safety to rescind guidance aimed at stopping racism in our schools and ending the school-to-prison pipeline”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after Secretary DeVos and Acting Attorney General Whitaker rescinded guidance aimed at ending disciplinary practices that unfairly target students of color. The decision by the Departments of Education and Justice comes after the Trump Administration’s school safety commission, chaired by Secretary DeVos, released a report that failed to address gun safety but recommended rescinding the guidance.

“It is absolutely shameful that Secretary DeVos and Acting Attorney General Whitaker are using the guise of school safety to rescind guidance aimed at stopping racism in our schools and ending the school-to-prison pipeline. By rescinding this guidance, Secretary DeVos and Acting Attorney General Whitaker are creating confusion for schools and making it harder for students of color to learn without being discriminated against. But let me be crystal clear, the Civil Rights Act is the law of the land and it prohibits schools, law enforcement, and every other organization that takes a single federal dollar from discriminating against students because of their skin color, where they were born, and other traits—and I’m going to keep fighting to ensure that schools and law enforcement agencies are still fulfilling their obligation to treat every student fairly, no matter where they’re from or what they look like.”

###