The U.S. Department of Education has scrapped decades-old rules that held institutions accountable for unintentional discrimination, even when statistical patterns revealed unequal treatment. The move reverses long-standing protections under the concept of disparate impact, which allowed challenges to policies that disproportionately affected certain groups. Critics argue the change weakens safeguards against systemic bias in education, while supporters claim it reduces burdensome legal risks for schools and lenders. The decision marks a significant shift in how discrimination cases may be evaluated under federal civil rights law.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday eliminated regulations going back more than 60 years that recognized liability for disparate impact, such as when statistics demonstrate a discriminatory ...
