Small Advances and Swift Retreat - Race-Conscious Educational Policy in the Obama and Trump Administrations

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca

The three terms comprising the Obama and Trump presidencies provide an opportunity to understand the evolution of race-conscious education policy in an increasingly multiracial, unequal, and divided society. Through document review and interviews with civil rights lawyers, government officials, congressional staffers, and intermediary organization personnel, the study analyzes how Obama officials envisioned and changed the federal role in advancing K-12 race-conscious policies and the mechanisms used. It also examines Trump-era shifts in federal civil rights policies, revealing continuities and constraints across administrations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages50

Reading Time2 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Research approach and participants

Obama-era policy mechanisms

Trump-era civil rights policy changes

Findings and implications

| education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal |
Arizona State University | | --- | --- | | Volume 31 Number 28 March 21, 2023 ISSN 1068-2341 | | Small Advances and Swift Retreat: Race-Conscious Educational Policy in the Obama and Trump Administrations1 Genevieve Siegel-Hawley Virginia Commonwealth University Erica Frankenberg The Pennsylvania State University Kathryn McDermott University of Massachusetts-Amherst Sarah McCollum University of Georgia Janelle Scott University of California-Berkeley Elizabeth DeBray University of Georgia United States Citation: Siegel-Hawley, G., Frankenberg, E., McDermott, K., McCollum, S., Scott, J. & DeBray, E.(2023) . Small advances and swift retreat: Race-conscious educational policy in the Obama and Trump administrations. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 31(28). [https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.31.7536](https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.31.7536) 1 The research reported in the article was made possible in part by a grant from the Spencer Foundation \#10013311 . The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spencer Foundation. Abstract: The three terms comprising the Obama and Trump presidencies provide an opportunity to understand the evolution of race-conscious education policy in an increasingly multiracial, unequal, and divided society. Through document review and interviews with civil rights lawyers, government officials, congressional staffers, and intermediary organization personnel, we sought to understand how Obama officials envisioned and changed the role of the federal government in fostering K-12 race-conscious educational policies and what mechanisms they used to advance priorities. We also explored changes Trump administration officials made to federal civil rights policies and through which institutional means. Our findings reveal through-lines between past and present political agendas and the methods for enactment. Obama’s interagency efforts to reinvigorate civil rights oversight and enforcement in education harkened back to the mid-1960s era of bipartisan cooperation around school desegregation. Yet the decades-long legal and policy retrenchment against civil rights advances made in the 1960s constrained further progress. Trump’s administration advocated for the privatization of public education through increased choice and opposed raceconsciousness in education law and policy. The reshaping of the federal judiciary under Trump presents challenges for race-consciousness in the law for years to come. Recognizing these consistent through-lines and constraints will be essential for advocates and policymakers going forward. Keywords: race-conscious law and policy; education politics; civil rights Pequeños avances y rápida retirada: Política educativa consciente de la raza en las administraciones de Obama y Trump Resumen: Los tres mandatos que comprenden las presidencias divididas de Obama y Trump brindan una oportunidad para la evolución de una política educativa con conciencia racial en una sociedad cada vez más multirracial, desigual y dividida. A través de la revisión de documentos y entrevistas con abogados de derechos civiles, funcionarios gubernamentales, personal del Congreso y organizaciones intermediarias, buscamos comprender cómo los funcionarios de Obama imaginaron y cambiaron el papel del personal del gobierno federal en el fomento de políticas educativas K-12 conscientes de la raza y qué mecanismos solíanadelantar prioridades. También exploramos los cambios institucionales que los funcionarios de la administración Trump hicieron en las políticas federales de derechos civiles y por qué medios. Nuestros hallazgos revelan líneas transversales entre las agendas políticas pasadas ypresentes y los métodos para su promulgación. Los esfuerzos interinstitucionales de Obama para revitalizar la supervisión y el cumplimiento de los

FAQs

How does the article frame the evolution of race-conscious education policy across the Obama and Trump presidencies?

It treats the Obama and Trump terms as a way to trace how race-conscious education policy evolved in a multiracial, unequal, and divided society. The analysis focuses on both federal roles and policy mechanisms used to advance priorities.

What methods does the study use to investigate educational policy change?

The study relies on document review and interviews with civil rights lawyers, government officials, congressional staffers, and personnel from intermediary organizations.

What major differences does the article identify between Obama and Trump approaches to race-conscious education policy?

Obama officials pursued reinvigorating civil rights oversight and enforcement, though constrained by decades of legal and policy retrenchment. Trump officials advocated privatization via increased choice and opposed race-consciousness in education law and policy, with the federal judiciary reshaped under the administration.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca