In the News

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02/18/2012
Opponents of Chicago School Takeover Stage Sit-In

(By Jason Keyser, Associated Press, 2/18/2012) About 100 students, teachers and community activists staged a sit-in Saturday at a struggling Chicago school to try to block a takeover by the city meant to turn around the school's poor performance. The protesters -- most of whom pitched tents outside, while 15 others holed up inside the building -- said the planned takeover by a nonprofit academy working for the city government would likely mean cuts to special education and bilingual programs.

01/25/2012
Advocates Say Disproportionate Number of Black Kids Arrested at Chicago Schools

(By Linda Paul, WBEZ, 1/25/2012) If you look at all Chicago arrests of juveniles in 2010, a fifth occurred on Chicago Public Schools property. That’s way too many arrests, according to a report out from Project NIA, a Chicago-based advocacy group that works against incarceration of kids. The Chicago police department data that NIA crunched found 5,574 juvenile arrests on CPS property in 2010. Of those arrests, about three-quarters involved African-American youth, even though black students comprise 45 percent of the school population.

01/05/2012
Arresting Development: Zero Tolerance and the Criminalization of Children

(By Annette Fuentes, Rethinking Schools 1/05/12) A week before classes ended last spring, 13-year-old Diana Nava was waiting with her mother, Modesto, for the Los Angeles city bus that goes near her school. Even though her mother had awakened Diana early, she was behind schedule. An LA police officer patrolling for truants spotted them at the bus stop and gave Diana a ticket for violating the city’s daytime curfew. “My mother said, ‘She’s on her way to school’ but the officer said it didn’t matter.” For being late, Nava and her mother would have to go to court and face a $250 fine, a loss in time and money they could ill afford.

11/23/2011
School Zero Tolerance Kills Dreams, Hurts the Economy

(Kathy Mulady, Equal Voice Newspaper) At a time when competition for jobs is fierce and even entry-level positions require a high school or college degree, anyone without a high school diploma need not apply. Yet, each year, more than a million students in the United States leave high school without graduating. Once assumed to be dropouts, many who leave are, in reality, pushed out.

11/15/2011
In Los Angeles, Truancy Tickets Hit Kids of Color

(By Robin Urevich, HealthyCal.org) In Los Angeles, a change in the city’s daytime curfew law is on the City Council agenda. The law is aimed at keeping kids in school, but activists have waged a two-year battle against it, saying it’s punitive, discriminatory and counter-productive. For years, students who were on the street after classes started, even those who were rushing toward school, faced a $250 fine. Their parents were forced to miss work to attend court hearings.

11/02/2011
NYCLU to Commissioner Kelly: Comply with the Student Safety Act

(Jenifer Carnig, NYCLU) The New York Civil Liberties Union today called on NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to stop delaying and comply with the Student Safety Act, a law that requires the Police Department to release quarterly reports detailing its activity in city schools. The NYPD has missed two consecutive reporting deadline.

10/19/2011
L.A. School Police to Issue Fewer Truancy Tickets

(L.A. Times Blog, Los Angeles Times) The new policy, announced Thursday, is the latest change from a campaign to reform traditional school discipline that advocates say results in ethnic and racial profiling and hardships for students and families. The targeted old rules were part of a get-tough philosophy that included truancy sweeps, $250 tickets and mandatory court appearances that could potentially result in jail time for parents. Such measures, advocates said, can diminish time in school and ultimately increase the dropout rate.

10/12/2011
Study: Black Students Suspended More for Small Infractions

(Jorge Rivas, Color Lines) School suspensions for non-white students in grades K-12 have increased by more than 100 percent since 1970. That’s according to a recent report highlighted by TheRoot.com. The report, "Discipline policies, Successful Schools, and Racial Justice" was conducted by the National Education Policy Center. The report uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office, along with figures collected under No Child Left Behind and a sampling of state education agencies to illustrate the widening disciplinary gap between students of color and their white counterparts.

10/11/2011
School Discipline Policies in Colorado Too Harsh? Lawmakers and Advocates Say Yes

(Melanie Asmar, Denver Times) School discipline, once considered too lax, has now swung too far in the opposite direction, say several state lawmakers and child advocates. As such, Colorado is one of a growing number of places rethinking harsh, "zero-tolerance" policies that lead to students being jailed for writing on bathroom stalls with marker and charged with felony assault for fighting in the hallway.

10/09/2011
Parents Rally for an End to Punitive Discipline

(AustinTalks) About 50 Latino and African American parent activists from POWER-PAC (Parents Organized to Win, Educate and Renew – Policy Action Council) were joined by Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) at a bilingual rally and press conference Friday at Wells Community Academy High School, 936 N. Ashland Ave. Parents called on Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to reduce suspensions and expulsions in favor of positive alternatives, such as the parent-run Peace Center, a restorative justice program currently operating at Wells School.

10/06/2011
Aldermen to Tell Chicago Public Schools to Lower Suspension Rates

(Sarah Karp, Catalyst Chicago) Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward) told parents at a rally Friday morning that he intends to co-sponsor a resolution with Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) calling on CPS to lower suspension rates by 40 percent and to implement restorative justice practices. “Rather than punish our children, we want our children to be nurtured and cared for,” he told about 40 members of POWER-PAC, a parent organization, which is part of the not-for-profit Community Organizing and Family Issues.

10/06/2011
Protestors Chant for an End to Excessive Suspensions of Students

(Kait Richmond, Pavement Pieces) Nilesh Vishwasrao should be a freshman in college, making new friends and studying English literature. Instead, he is nearly six months behind after being what he calls “pushed out” of high school. Vishwasrao, 18, of Jackson Heights, Queens, was suspended several times in high school for minor offenses, such as chewing gum or wearing a hat. But when they added up, the guidance counselor called in Vishwasrao’s father.

10/06/2011
Padres y Jóvenes Unidos Proponen Alternativas al Sistema Disciplinario Escolar

(Viva Colorado) Decenas de miembros de la organización comunitaria Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, de Denver, se reunieron el 5 de octubre frente al capitolio estatal para presentar alternativas al sistema disciplinario escolar actual, al que consideran como "normas de castigo".

10/05/2011
Positive School Environments, Not Metal Detectors, Are the Key to Student Success

(Claudia Gomez and Leslie Mendoza, The Eastside Sun) Graduating from high school is the dream of most L.A. students. We understand that education and a diploma can make the difference between a healthy, successful future and a dead-end job, or worse, the criminal justice system. But just getting to and staying in school can be a daily struggle, especially for those of us coming from the poorest communities. And when we arrive at campus, we often feel unwelcome and unmotivated in a climate where police and parole officers may outnumber counselors, and teacher layoffs create overcrowded classes.

10/05/2011
Protesta por Politica de Cero Tolerencia

(Video Clip, Somos Noticias Colorado) Las escuelas del país cuentan con una política de cero tolerancia en cuanto a la disciplina de los estudiantes y colorado no es la excepción. Por lo que un grupo de padres y defensores de los estudiantes está protestando en estos momentos frente al capitolio estatal.

10/04/2011
National Report Highlights Punitive Suspensions of Minority Students, Which are on the Rise in Baltimore

(Erica Green, Baltimore Sun) A national report released today underscores the widely-known disparity in suspensions of minority students and their non-minority counterparts.In the report, Maryland is highlighted for its efforts to curb punitive suspensions and expulsions, and Baltimore is highlighted for its effort of significantly reducing its suspension rate in recent years--though the number of suspensions in the district is up this year, including those for "soft offenses" like disrespect and insubordination.

10/04/2011
Minority Students Face Harsher Punishments, Report Shows

(Huffington Post, 10/5/11)Black and Latino students are disproportionately more likely to experience harsher punishments by schools for infractions and misbehaviors, according to a new report by the National Education Policy Center.

10/04/2011
Study Finds Minority Students Get Harsher Punishments

(Nirvi Shah, Education Week) Black and Hispanic students are far more likely to be kicked out of school when they break the rules, including some that often have nothing to do with keeping students safe, according to a new report from a civil rights research and advocacy group.

10/03/2011
Treme Center to Host Forum on School Discipline Policies Tonight

(Andrew Vanacore, The Times-Picayune) Local students will share their stories about school discipline policies in New Orleans during a forum at the Treme Center tonight, an event organized by Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools and other groups.It's being put on as a part of the "Dignity in Schools Campaign National Week of Action on School Pushout."

09/27/2011
New York's Pushout Crisis: Why Students Don't Graduate

(Emily Shaw, Liz Sullivan, and Refat Shoshi Chowdhury, Op-Ed, Gotham Gazette) Luke was supposed to receive his high school diploma this year, but, like many others, he did not. A 16-year-old black student, he was placed in special education with a label of "emotional disturbance." Luke was attending a high school in District 75, the citywide district for special education, where students with disabilities are isolated from their peers without disabilities. It was not where Luke was supposed to be.

07/28/2011
In Washington, Youth Advocates Call on Congress to Address the School to Prison Pipeline

(Alice Ollstein, Free Speech Radio News, 7/29/11) Youth advocates from across the country met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week to demand they address the so-called “school to prison pipeline.” Alice Ollstein reports.

News

02/18/2012
Chicago Parents, Students Occupy Piccolo Elementary, School Targeted For 'Turnaround'
(Huffington Post, 2/18/2012) -  A group of Chicago parents, students and activists have staged a sit-in inside, as well as an encampment outside, a West Side elementary school that Chicago Public Schools has targeted for "turnaround." The protesters arrived at Brian Piccolo Elementary School early Friday evening to speak out against the school's closure. Late last year, Piccolo was flagged as one of ten schools that would be "turned around," meaning that its principal and the majority of its staff will be replaced and, in this case, the school's management would be taken over by the well-connected charter program Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL). Click here to:  Watch Video
02/18/2012
Chicago School Protest by Parents Halted After Board Agrees to Meet
ABC Local, 2/18/2012 - Watch Video - School protest halted after board agrees to meet
02/14/2012
Suspended from School in Early Grades
(By Donna St. George, The Washington Post, 2/12/2012) Thousands of elementary students were suspended from public schools last year in Washington and its suburbs, some of them so young that they were learning about out-of-school discipline before they could spell or multiply. Those sent home for their behavior included kindergartners in nearly every area school system — 94 in Prince George’s County, 74 in Fairfax County, 61 in Anne Arundel County, 50 in the D.C. school system, 38 in Prince William County and 22 in Montgomery County.
01/31/2012
Racial Disparity in School Discipline in Massachusetts
  (By Beverly Ford, iWatch News, 1/30/2012) A good student with no disciplinary record, Sonia Vivas was on track to fulfill her dream of becoming a lawyer when an encounter with two other teens sent her life into a tailspin. Accused of stealing a cell phone and pulling a knife on a student, the 14-year-old eighth grader was tossed out of school in 2007 with little more than a cursory hearing after the mother of one of the girls, both white, complained her daughter felt threatened
01/26/2012
Where's Education in the Republican Candidates' Slugfest?
(Annette Fuentes, Huffington Post, 1/21/2012) With No Child Left Behind being overhauled and nationwide school testing scandals and teacher accountability measures in the news, K-12 public schooling is an issue that many care about deeply. So, as a public service, here is a brief synopsis of the education platforms, such as they are, of the Republican candidates, gleaned from their official Web sites and news reports.
01/25/2012
Youth Advocates Want More Data on School Arrests
(By Sarah Karp, Catalyst Chicago, 1/25/2012) Of the 27,000 juveniles arrested in Chicago in 2010, a fifth of them were taken into custody at school. More than two-thirds of those arrested were black and 75 percent were male. A youth advocacy group is calling on Chicago aldermen to pass a student safety act similar to one in New York City that forces the school district to reveal the number of arrests, suspensions and expulsions per school every quarter. Data published as a result of the New York City ordinance have led to important revelations, such as the finding that at least one black male student is arrested in school each day, says Mariame Kaba, founder and director of Project NIA.
01/24/2012
State Wants To Curb Student Suspensions
(By Liz Bowie, The Baltimore Sun, 1/24/2012) Baltimore County reported the highest suspension rate of any Maryland district apart from the Eastern Shore in the last school year. Concerned about the high numbers of student suspensions, state school board members are proposing an overhaul of discipline codes that would move away from zero-tolerance policies. School board President James H. DeGraffenreidt Jr. said Tuesday that the board will propose a series of regulations next month that will require school districts to form a plan to reduce nonviolent offenses in the next three years as well as the number of suspensions of special education and minority students.
01/23/2012
Better School Discipline
(Jason Langberg, Op-Ed, News Observer, 01/23/12) It's a new year and an opportunity for a fresh start in the Wake County Public School System. Now is the time to join together with a renewed focus on student achievement - and to improve student achievement we must address school discipline, as the two are inextricably linked. Last year, positive changes alleviated the school system's discipline crisis, including additional seats at Mary Phillips High School, revisions to the Code of Conduct and the creation of Alternative Learning Centers. However, thousands upon thousands of students - disproportionately male students, black students and students with disabilities - are still being pushed out of schools and onto a path toward poverty and prison.
01/18/2012
Pushed Out?: How Some Students Allegedly End Up Leaving Public Schools
(By Neena Satija, WNPR, 1/18/2012) Thousands of public school students in Connecticut don’t get their diplomas each year, but only some are called “dropouts.” So what happens to the others? In the first of a three-part series, WNPR’s Neena Satija reports on how kids leave the school system without officially “dropping out.” Jane is seventeen years old and still hasn’t passed the eighth grade. Her name has been changed to protect her privacy, and she doesn’t want to give the name of her school. Jane repeated eighth grade twice and was suspended multiple times for behavior issues. On her third try of eighth grade last year, she went to school on her birthday and got some upsetting news.
01/08/2012
Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline
(Editorial, Rethinking Schools, 1/09/12) The school-to-prison pipeline begins in deep social and economic inequalities, and has taken root in the historic shortcomings of schooling in this country. The civil and human rights movements of the 1960s and ’70s spurred an effort to “rethink schools” to make them responsive to the needs of all students, their families, and communities. This rethinking included collaborative learning environments, multicultural curriculum, student-centered, experiential pedagogy—we were aiming for education as liberation. The back-to-basics backlash against that struggle has been more rigid enforcement of ever more alienating curriculum.
01/06/2012
Why We Advocate Against the School-to-Prison-Pipeline
(by Courtney Bowie, ACLU & Jed Oppenheim, Southern Poverty Law Center, 1/06/12) Jasper Bell’s story, common in many ways and tragic in most, demonstrates why we — as advocates against harsh school discipline policies — fight against harsh school discipline policies that funnel children from school to jail. When Jasper Bell was in the 4th grade, in Jackson, Miss., he was in the talented and gifted program. Around that time, a caring teacher noticed that he was being physically abused and reported it to the county. After this report, Jasper’s immediate family was broken up, he was separated from siblings, and he went to live with relatives. In a state that has few mental health resources and a foster care system in disarray, Jasper got little guidance, counseling or comfort. Rather, he returned to school and began to act out. As a result and without regard to his life circumstances, he was placed in Jackson’s alternative school programs where he moved through a revolving door of youth jails, mental health institutions, and alternative schools. Along the way, his fate was sealed.
12/04/2011
Zero Tolerance Requires Common Sense
(Mary Nash-Wood, Shreveporttimes.com) Lindsey Tanner was a typical 14-year-old who enjoyed hanging out with friends and shopping. In May 2007, the Haughton Middle School eighth-grader and honor student was making plans for the summer and excited to soon be a freshman at Haughton High School. But after offering a single Midol pill to a fellow student, Lindsey saw friends disappear and was subject to public ridicule.
12/02/2011
Chris Selley:Zero Tolerance for Bullies Never Works
(Chris Selley, The National Post) A physically disabled student in Scarborough, Ont., attacked by older kids, is terrified to go to school. “I felt like I had nowhere to turn,” says his mother. Gay teenagers are dropping out in droves, or much worse, and pleading for acceptance, or at least safety, from their schools. “Kids are completely out of control,” the mother of a bullied six-year-old tells the Toronto Star. “Both in the playground and in the school, they push, shove, smack and have no regard or respect for each other at all.” Bullying is in the news, and schools and elected officials are vowing action.
12/01/2011
Now That Zero Tolerance Is Fading in Schools, What’s Next?
  (By Ted Wachtel, Education News, 12/1/2011) Zero tolerance, the policy of punishing any rule infraction regardless of circumstances, was certainly a swing away from the middle.  There is no evidence that it ever reduced problems in schools.  Instead, it created more.  Besides yielding a steady stream of anecdotes for the news media about students suspended for trivial and silly things, it turned too many children into kids with “records.” So zero tolerance was tried and found wanting.  Schools also tried enormously expensive technology such as metal detectors and security cameras and found them wanting too.  Taxpayers today will not, and should not, stand for spending millions on technological solutions that never worked.
11/30/2011
Nearly All Students Arrests in NYC Public Schools Target Black and Latino Males
(Jorge Rivas, ColorLines) New York City police officers arrested or ticketed an average of four students per day in the city’s schools over a four-month period this summer and fall. Out of 63 arrests in that time period, all but four of them were black or Latino kids, Gotham Schools reports. The statistics released on Monday came under the terms of the Student Safety Act, a law the City Council passed last year to require transparency about arrests made by the New York Police Department in city schools.
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