WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will no longer consider school policies that disproportionately harm one group of students as discriminatory unless the discrimination is intentional, rescinding a decades-long standard for civil rights enforcement. In a rule change announced July 23, the department said it would remove a number of disparate impact provisions from its regulations related to the implementation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of race or national origin. In schools, the standard has most notably been applied to school discipline policies. In a written statement, the department said that disparate impact had forced schools and universities to engage in racial balancing for fear of federal enforcement. "With these changes, schools will be empowered to address classroom issues without fearing the federal government will weaponize antidiscrimination laws," Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said.