Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City Public School canceled classes to address the ongoing violence and widespread school suspensions at North Highland Elementary.
The meetings between school leaders and teachers come after parents and community members complained North Highland Elementary Schools students are fighting. There have been a reported 34 school suspensions in the first three months of school.
"The
language that they use is something that you wouldn't believe comes out
of a child that young's mouth," said Lisa Hearst, who lives near the school.
Teachers and Oklahoma City School administrators had a meeting Friday. Meanwhile, stakeholders in the community are having similar conversations.
Safe Havens, International
School Safety Shield
Non en Meus Vigilo!
Showing posts with label suspensions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suspensions. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
The Injustice Schools Ignore
Philadelphia, PA
From 2005-06 through 2009-10, the district reported 30,333 serious incidents, including 19,752 assaults, 4,327 weapons infractions, 2,037 drug- and alcohol-related violations, and 1,186 robberies. Students were beaten by their peers in libraries and had their hair pulled out by gangs. Teachers were assaulted more than 4,000 times.
So how has the School Reform Commission responded? By easing its student code of conduct and other disciplinary policies. In particular, the commission wants to cut down on out-of-school suspensions.
William H. Hite Jr., the School District's incoming superintendent, shares these goals. He has argued that zero-tolerance policies can't create a school culture free of violence, saying, "We can't arrest or suspend our way to safer schools."
The School District's discipline policies have been criticized as unfairly punishing black and Latino students and creating a pipeline to prison. The activist group Youth United for Change's 2011 report "Zero Tolerance in Philadelphia" made that claim, saying that "every year, tens of thousands of young people - and especially youth[s] of color and students with disabilities - are being criminalized in Philadelphia schools or are being pushed out of school by the use of out-of-school suspensions, disciplinary transfers to alternative schools, and expulsions."
According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, black students are more than three times as likely as their white peers to be suspended or expelled. This is especially noteworthy given that 84 percent of America's public-school teachers are white.
From 2005-06 through 2009-10, the district reported 30,333 serious incidents, including 19,752 assaults, 4,327 weapons infractions, 2,037 drug- and alcohol-related violations, and 1,186 robberies. Students were beaten by their peers in libraries and had their hair pulled out by gangs. Teachers were assaulted more than 4,000 times.
So how has the School Reform Commission responded? By easing its student code of conduct and other disciplinary policies. In particular, the commission wants to cut down on out-of-school suspensions.
William H. Hite Jr., the School District's incoming superintendent, shares these goals. He has argued that zero-tolerance policies can't create a school culture free of violence, saying, "We can't arrest or suspend our way to safer schools."
The School District's discipline policies have been criticized as unfairly punishing black and Latino students and creating a pipeline to prison. The activist group Youth United for Change's 2011 report "Zero Tolerance in Philadelphia" made that claim, saying that "every year, tens of thousands of young people - and especially youth[s] of color and students with disabilities - are being criminalized in Philadelphia schools or are being pushed out of school by the use of out-of-school suspensions, disciplinary transfers to alternative schools, and expulsions."
According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, black students are more than three times as likely as their white peers to be suspended or expelled. This is especially noteworthy given that 84 percent of America's public-school teachers are white.
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