Because all discipline problems occur with the exact same frequency as skin color.
How can that be racist? <sarcasm)
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ school safety commission will recommend rescinding the Obama-era guidance on school discipline, which was meant to reduce racial disparities in suspension, reports Laura Meckler in the Washington Post. The commission, formed in response to the shooting that left 17 people dead at a Florida high school, is expected to release a final report this month.
The guidance, issued by the Education and Justice departments in 2014 as a letter to school officials, warns districts they could be charged with violating federal civil rights law “if black students or other students of color are suspended, expelled or otherwise disciplined at higher rates than white students,” writes Meckler.
Teachers are “skeptical” of limits on discipline, writes David Loewenberg on Educated Reporter. A recent Education Next poll found that “just 29 percent of teachers said they support federal policies that prevent schools from expelling or suspending black and Hispanic students at higher rates than other students.”
Some believe stricter discipline would have prevented the Parkland massacre: If the accused shooter had been arrested and convicted of assault, he would not have been able to buy guns legally.
Parkland “schools have grown so tolerant of misbehavior that students like Nikolas Cruz are able to slide by for years without strict punishment for conduct that could be criminal,” charges the Sun-Sentinel.
The culture of leniency allows children to engage in an endless loop of violations and second chances, creating a system where kids who commit the same offense for the 10th time may be treated like it’s the first, according to records and interviews with people familiar with the process.
“Students can be considered first-time offenders even if they commit the same offenses year after year,” the Sun-Sentinel reports.
Florida schools cover up campus crimes to give parents a false sense of security, also from the Sun-Sentinel, accuses the district of putting public relations ahead of student safety.