“It is no wonder that our kids don’t think that rules and consequences apply to them,” Ms. Stewart said. “We are not modeling what consequences look like in the real world.”

Ms. DeVos is facing new pressures after Republicans linked the guidance to the February mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and President Trump assigned her to lead a school safety commission that will consider whether to repeal the guidance.

Ms. DeVos has declined to say publicly whether she believes that racial bias plays a role in the disproportionate rates at which black students are punished in school. But according to attendees at Wednesday’s meeting, the secretary opened her remarks by acknowledging that the conversations were taking place on the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and that racial disparities in discipline were a problem in the country.

Evan Stone, co-founder of Educators for Excellence, which represents nearly 30,000 educators across the country, said the acknowledgment gave him hope. “Still, we have a real uphill battle ahead,” said Mr. Stone, who attended the meeting with Ms. Leuzzi and five other teachers who are part of the group.

Members of Congress urged Ms. DeVos not to make a decision on the guidance until the G.A.O. report was made public. The Education Department did not issue a response to the G.A.O. findings, as is customary, and did not respond to a request for comment on the report.

The Obama administration guidance was issued based on data that showed that, in 2012, black students were being suspended at three times the rate of their white peers. According to the G.A.O. analysis, in the 2013-14 school year, black students accounted for 15.5 percent of all public school students, but represented about 39 percent of students suspended from school.