Reinstating Commonsense School Discipline Policies

The order directs the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Attorney General, to issue new guidance to local and state educational agencies clarifying their Title VI obligations regarding school discipline within 30 days. It instructs the Secretary of Education to take enforcement action against agencies that fail to comply with Title VI's protections against racial discrimination in discipline. Within 60 days, the Secretary of Education and Attorney General must coordinate with Governors and State Attorneys General on preventing racial discrimination in school discipline. Within 90 days, the Secretary of Defense must issue a revised discipline code for schools serving children of military families.

Within 120 days, the Secretary of Education — coordinating with the Attorneys General and Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security — must submit a report to the President covering the history of Title VI discipline investigations since 2009, the role of federally funded nonprofits in promoting equity-based discipline, and model discipline policies rooted in behavior-based standards. The order defines "Behavior Modification Techniques" as any discipline policies based on what it terms discriminatory equity ideology, and incorporates definitions from a January 29, 2025 executive order on K-12 schooling.

Public school teachers, administrators, and students nationwide; local and state educational agencies subject to federal Title VI oversight; nonprofit organizations receiving federal grants tied to school discipline programs; and families of military-connected children attending Defense Department-administered schools.

Public schools that have adjusted discipline policies to reduce racial statistical disparities may face renewed federal scrutiny under a different standard. Teachers and principals gain clearer authority to make discipline decisions based on behavior alone, without accounting for aggregate racial outcome data to avoid federal enforcement action.

Implementation proceeds in four overlapping stages tied to fixed deadlines: the Education Department issues new guidance first (30 days), followed by intergovernmental coordination with state leaders (60 days), a revised Defense Department discipline code for military schools (90 days), and finally a comprehensive presidential report (120 days). The Education Secretary holds enforcement authority over noncompliant schools under Title VI, but the report — including model policies and grant-recipient assessments — is the mechanism through which long-term policy change is channeled. The order includes a standard severability provision and explicitly states it creates no enforceable rights against the government.