For years, Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates have pushed to put teachers back in charge of their classrooms and to bring transparency to foreign influence in our colleges and universities. These bills have always been blocked by Democrats. But last week, President Trump signed two major Executive Orders that bring commonsense policies addressing both issues back into place nationwide.
Earlier this week, President Trump signed an Executive Order eliminating “disparate impact” enforcement in education and other areas. By way of background, in 2014, the Obama Administration pressured schools to discipline students based on racial outcomes instead of observed behavior. This resulted in dangerous and disruptive students staying in classrooms to avoid triggering “racial disparity” statistics. A 2018 federal report confirmed that schools were covering up misconduct to meet federal racial balance expectations. Although President Trump previously rescinded the Obama-era guidance in 2018, President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2023. Now, President Trump is eliminating it via Executive Order.
The Executive Order does the following things to ensure all students are treated the same and that discipline – when warranted – is handled fairly. First, it revokes prior presidential actions approving “disparate impact” theories. It directs agencies to deprioritize enforcement of disparate impact standards and orders the Attorney General to repeal regulations that allow race-based liability under Title VI. And it reviews pending lawsuits and investigations relying on disparate impact liability for possible withdrawal. President Trump is restoring discipline in schools by returning to behavior-based standards – keeping students and teachers safer – something that Virginia House Republicans have supported for years.
The president also signed an order requiring full disclosure of foreign funding to U.S. colleges and universities. For years, foreign governments funneled billions of dollars into U.S. institutions with little transparency or accountability. Only about 300 out of 6,000 U.S. colleges self-report foreign gifts. A U.S. Senate report even described foreign funding at American universities as a “black hole.”
The order mandates clear and timely disclosure of foreign gifts and contracts, reverses Biden-era actions that allowed universities to hide foreign ties, authorizes audits and enforcement actions against noncompliant institutions, and allows for revocation of some federal grants for failure to report foreign funding. Not all foreign funding is bad or nefarious, but it does make total sense to disclose these financial gifts to ensure our institutions of higher learning are not beholden to foreign actors instead of focusing on their main goal: to prepare our young adults to succeed in the American economy.
As the Delegate representing the 42nd House District in the Virginia General Assembly, your concerns are my greatest priority. If ever I may be of assistance to you and your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at DelJBallard@House.Virginia.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter @JasonBallardVA or like my Facebook page, Jason Ballard for Delegate, to keep up to date with what I am doing in Richmond and in our community on your behalf.
Delegate Jason Ballard
Virginia House of Delegates
