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SCHOOL MATTERS: Report Flunks Kids + Cops
In light of the recent arrest of a central Florida six-year-old African-American girl by police officers at her elementary school, a recent report finds that African American and Latino students are disproportionately affected and targeted when aggressive disciplinary measures, like the use of police in public schools, are enforced. Liz Sullivan is the Human Right to Education Program Director at the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) based in New York City.
LOS ANGELES -- In a recent report produced in collaboration with community organizations in Los Angeles, the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) documented practices in Los Angeles schools that severely undermine students’ rights to education, dignity and freedom from discrimination.discipline
In focusing on public schools in New York and Los Angeles, we find in our report that discipline is playing a distorted role, especially in schools serving students of color and students living in poverty, creating destructive environments and pushing young people to drop out of school. This reflects a disturbing trend in districts across the country to use law enforcement personnel, zero-tolerance suspensions and other punitive strategies against students. Supporters of these policies believe they will help make schools safer. Instead, many students feel threatened by these policies that do little to address the causes of conflict and ignore students’ educational and emotional needs.
In New York City in 2004, Mayor Bloomberg created the Impact Schools program placing 200 police officers in the two dozen schools with the most disciplinary incidents. The schools chosen for the Impact program have disproportionately higher percentages of low-income and African American students, and also receive less funding and are more overcrowded than the citywide averages. This policy has prompted outrage and concern from parents and advocates about the harassment and inappropriate arrest of students and teachers, increases in suspensions, and decreases in attendance.
In Los Angeles, police and safety officers currently intervene in everyday disciplinary issues, like ticketing students $250 when they are late for school, removing disruptive students from classrooms in handcuffs, and even slamming students against walls after fights and spraying mace on bystanders to break up crowds. Schools with the most repressive policies are overwhelmingly under-resourced, overcrowded and primarily attended by low-income students of color.
In our report we found that schools also repeatedly suspend and exclude students from the classroom for minor misbehavior, such as arguing with other students and shouting in hallways. According to Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) data for 2004-2005, in one quarter of senior high schools more than 20 percent of students were suspended, and in three of those high schools more than one in three students were suspended in one year.
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=91ca74f40c91b3e29137f15bc5d7e544
In focusing on public schools in New York and Los Angeles, we find in our report that discipline is playing a distorted role, especially in schools serving students of color and students living in poverty, creating destructive environments and pushing young people to drop out of school. This reflects a disturbing trend in districts across the country to use law enforcement personnel, zero-tolerance suspensions and other punitive strategies against students. Supporters of these policies believe they will help make schools safer. Instead, many students feel threatened by these policies that do little to address the causes of conflict and ignore students’ educational and emotional needs.
In New York City in 2004, Mayor Bloomberg created the Impact Schools program placing 200 police officers in the two dozen schools with the most disciplinary incidents. The schools chosen for the Impact program have disproportionately higher percentages of low-income and African American students, and also receive less funding and are more overcrowded than the citywide averages. This policy has prompted outrage and concern from parents and advocates about the harassment and inappropriate arrest of students and teachers, increases in suspensions, and decreases in attendance.
In Los Angeles, police and safety officers currently intervene in everyday disciplinary issues, like ticketing students $250 when they are late for school, removing disruptive students from classrooms in handcuffs, and even slamming students against walls after fights and spraying mace on bystanders to break up crowds. Schools with the most repressive policies are overwhelmingly under-resourced, overcrowded and primarily attended by low-income students of color.
In our report we found that schools also repeatedly suspend and exclude students from the classroom for minor misbehavior, such as arguing with other students and shouting in hallways. According to Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) data for 2004-2005, in one quarter of senior high schools more than 20 percent of students were suspended, and in three of those high schools more than one in three students were suspended in one year.
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=91ca74f40c91b3e29137f15bc5d7e544
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