From the NPR Blog:
Saying that “zero tolerance” discipline policies at U.S. schools are unfairly applied “all too often,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is urging officials to rethink that approach. The Obama administration issued voluntary guidelines today that call for more training for teachers and more clarity in defining security problems.
The move by the Education and Justice departments comes after years of complaints from civil rights groups and others who say the policies are ineffective and take an unfair toll on minorities. The zero tolerance approach has been blamed for boosting the number of suspensions and expulsions and for equating minor infractions with criminal acts.
“A routine school disciplinary infraction should land a student in the principal’s office, not in a police precinct,” Attorney General Eric Holder said.
You can check out the Education Department’s “School Climate and Discipline” plan online. It includes guidance that’s aimed at helping teachers enforce rules fairly, as well as resources to “help guide state and local efforts to improve school climate and school discipline.”
Prompted by fears of gang violence and shootings, zero tolerance discipline policies have taken hold in many U.S. states and school districts in the past two decades. As a report by the Vera Center On Youth Justice noted in December, some states adopted the polices to qualify for federal education funds.
But the policies have produced uneven results, reports Vera, which notes that in the U.S., “nearly a third (31 percent) of black boys in middle school were suspended at least once during the 2009-10 school year.”
And as NPR’s Claudio Sanchez reports for Wednesday’s All Things Considered, thousands of kids were referred to law enforcement, even if their behavior had not been violent.
“Federal government figures show that of the 3 million students who were suspended or expelled during the 2010-11 school year, a quarter of a million were referred to law enforcement, even though 95 percent were for nonviolent behavior. The overwhelming majority — 7 out of 10 — were black, Latino or kids with disabilities.”
Read the rest here.
