Less Discipline, More Disorder: The Unintended Consequences of Federal School Discipline Directives

Public schools across the country were put on notice in January 2014, when the Obama Department of Education issued a "Dear Colleague" letter notifying schools that differences in suspension rates among different student groups would be cause for a federal investigation. The Department forced school districts they investigated to overhaul their discipline policies, and the threat alone catalyzed changes in many others.