Free Republic

In 2014, the Obama administration promulgated a “guidance” to America’s public schools that threatened federal investigations and litigation against schools where black students are disciplined (e.g., by suspension) more often, on a pro rata basis, than white students, on the ground that such numerical discrepancy is evidence of discrimination. Many schools responded by adopting discipline quotas, which meant in practice that after a certain number of students of a particular race had been suspended, teachers and administrators were helpless to enforce any kind of discipline in classrooms. The Obama administration is gone, thankfully, but its “guidance” has not been revoked....

Education: As we predicted, the Obama regime's anti-suspension policy is backfiring. Los Angeles teachers complain unsuspended violent kids are intimidating them and effectively ruling their classrooms. In 2011, the Education Department accused the Los Angeles Unified School District of discriminating against black boys, who were suspended for bad behavior at a disproportionate rate. The agency ordered it to reduce suspensions in the hopes that unruly minority students would stay in school and graduate. "The district shall develop and implement a comprehensive plan to eliminate the disproportionality in the discipline imposed on African-American students," the five-page decree says. The superintendent agreed...

p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;tab-stops:436.5pt">Congressional Democrats have added President Obama’s takeover of the student loan industry to the health care reconciliation bill. It is a troubling development, but not because of the finances.  The trouble comes from the specter of federal control of American higher education.  “Obama loans” may seem benign but they threaten academic freedom and may compromise the quality of academic programs. The move by the Democrats forestalls a debate we need to have over who controls this key institution. Since 1965, the federal government has subsidized colleges and universities by guaranteeing loans that students take from private lenders. Obama’s...