The U.S. government issued guidelines Wednesday urging public school systems to curb what has become known as the “school to prison” pipeline in exchange for nondiscriminatory and less punitive discipline tactics—a move the American Civil Liberties Union called “groundbreaking.”

“Ordinary trouble-making can sometimes provoke responses that are overly severe, including out of school suspensions, expulsions and even referral to law enforcement and then you end up with kids that end up in police precincts instead of the principal’s office,” said Attorney General Eric Holder upon the release of the guidelines, co-authored by the Justice and Education Departments.

Although the guidelines are non-binding, as the Associated Press reports, “the federal government is telling the school districts around the country that they should adhere to the principles of fairness and equity in student discipline or face strong action if they don’t.”

Last March, the Justice Department settled a court case with a Miss. school district to end discriminatory disciplinary practices that were targeting black students over others.

The phrase school-to-prison pipeline stems from an increasing trend in these tactics, which civil rights advocates say are disproportionally targeting black, Hispanic, and other minority students.

As the Associated Press reports: