The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that it will investigate how Milwaukee Public Schools disciplines students, and how race plays into those decisions.
But this inquiry will not focus on whether Black students are unfairly disciplined at higher rates. That was the subject of a previous investigation and settlement between the education department and MPS in 2017.
Instead, the department’s Office of Civil Rights will look into whether MPS engaged in racial discrimination by using race as a factor when considering disciplinary action.
Federal officials said that Milwaukee education leaders had "derided facially neutral school policies as reflecting systemic 'whiteness.'" The announcement of the investigation did not include any further details.
Following an April executive order by the Trump administration, the department has taken the stance that to consider a students’ race in the disciplinary process violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Some harm reduction and restorative justice programs encourage school districts to weigh the disparate impact of suspension or expulsion on students of color.
Milwaukee Public Schools officials have not commented publicly on the investigation, other than to say they have no information about what prompted it.
At least one conservative law firm, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, has applauded the department for opening the investigation into MPS
Do you have a question about education or how schools work in our area? Submit it here to WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal.
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