The US Education Department announced on Thursday that it would eliminate several disparate impact regulations that for decades barred policies with discriminatory effects even when those effects were unintended.

Sixty civil rights and education organizations released a joint statement on Thursday denouncing the decision and warning that the removed rules had been essential for shielding students from systemic bias tied to race, color and national origin.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 opposing disparate impact regulations and asked federal agencies to not enforce them.

The action forms part of a broader Trump administration effort to scale back diversity programs that he describes as anti-merit and unfair to groups such as white people and men.

Civil rights advocates have repeatedly criticized these steps, arguing they reverse hard-won social gains and weaken safeguards designed to support ethnic minorities, women and the LGBT community.

Action aligns with wider effort to limit diversity programs

The Education Department stated on Thursday that the disparate impact rules had hindered schools from disciplining disruptive minority students and had pushed institutions toward racial balancing.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said the changes would allow schools to handle classroom problems without fear that federal anti-discrimination laws would be turned against them.

The protesting groups maintained that the regulations had been vital for challenging seemingly neutral policies on school closures and discipline that disproportionately affected Black, Native American, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander students.

They added that the disparate impact standard removes unjustified obstacles in education so every student can learn and succeed on equal terms.