DeVos' Solution to Mass School Shootings? Scrap the Rules Designed to End Discrimination Against Students of Color
"The Trump administration's response to school shootings is to make it easier (again) to suspend black kids."
Update:
The highly anticipated Final Report (pdf) from the Federal Commission on School Safety, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, was released Tuesday—and includes a long-rumored recommendation that is alarming civil rights advocates: to rescind Obama-era policies crafted to end racial disparities in school disciplinary practices.
Formed after 17 people were gunned down at a Florida high school in February, the commission "took a horrendous year of school shooting tragedies and produced a report with a smorgasbord of recommendations—some of which we have championed for years—aimed at making our schools safer," said American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten. "Unfortunately, the report doesn't address the root causes of the gun violence epidemic: too many guns in our communities and not enough investment in addressing the social-emotional health of our kids."
"But most curious and disappointing is the report's use of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to push an anti-civil rights agenda that won't keep schools safe," she added. Noting that the Obama-era measures "intended to help prevent the disproportionate suspension and expulsion of students of color, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ youth," she also pointed out that the Stoneman Douglas shooter "had in fact been expelled and reported to law enforcement; rescinding discipline guidance and kicking kids out of school doesn't prevent school shootings."
The Education Law Center, in a statement, said, "Claims that federal measures to address racial and disability disparities have caused lax discipline and triggered a wave of school violence are simply inaccurate and dishonest." The center concluded that the commission's recommendation to rescind the anti-discrimination measures sends a message that the Trump administration "does not care about children pushed out of school and does not care if schools discriminate."
Earlier:
A school safety commission formed after 17 people were murdered at a high school in Parkland, Florida in February plans to formally recommend that the Trump administration rescind "groundbreaking" Obama-era policies that aimed to prevent discrimination against students of color, according to the New York Times.
Expected to be officially announced in a joint letter by the Education and Justice CONTINUE READING: DeVos' Solution to Mass School Shootings? Scrap the Rules Designed to End Discrimination Against Students of Color
