School Discipline Reforms Vital; NYCLU Applauds New Federal Guidance

The U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice today released strong guidance directed at reforming school discipline nationwide. For the first time, the federal government has explicitly acknowledged the effects of racially disproportionate school discipline – and that current practices violate federal civil rights law. The guidance prescribes measures to address inequities, by increasing training and requiring protocols that will limit the involvement of law-enforcement personnel, including school safety officers, in disciplinary matters.

The New York Civil Liberties Union in 2010 filed a class-action lawsuit against challenging illegal arrests and excessive force in New York City public schools.

“Again and again in New York City and state, the School to Prison Pipeline captures students of color, disproportionately punishing them with suspensions and arrests,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “We are gratified that the U. S. Departments of Education and Justice have taken significant steps to address the educational harms caused by aggressive, zero-tolerance school discipline practices that particularly affect children of color.”

As the NYCLU and others have noted, aggressive school discipline pushes students out of school, undermining their academic success – and eventual economic independence. This pattern is true in New York City, where black youth serve half of all school suspensions and 90 percent of all youth arrested are black or Latino. It is also consistent across New York State, according to U.S. Office of Civil Rights data: Students of color face disproportionate punishment.

“Since 2007, the NYCLU has published four major investigations of school discipline, documenting the disparate racial impact of zero tolerance and street police tactics,” Lieberman said. “Street policing tactics do not belong in our city’s public schools – or in any schools, anywhere.”

The new federal guidance links zero-tolerance discipline with disparate impact, a primary concern of the NYCLU lawsuit, and establishes that discriminatory discipline violates federal civil rights law (Titles IV and VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act). It also demands that schools be held accountable for the actions of police and other law-enforcement personnel, and questions the efficacy of policies that punish truancy with out-of-school suspensions.

“The best way to know what is happening in schools is to foster transparent, complete reporting of school discipline data,” said NYCLU Advocacy Director Johanna Miller. “The federal government recognizes the importance of accountable, transparent reporting, even as it documents disturbing gaps, as has been the case for New York City’s reporting to the federal Office of Civil Rights. These recommendations will help school districts and school leaders apply fair, restorative discipline – and encourage the growth of other ameliorative measures that do not remove students from school.”

“The NYCLU strongly encourages the de Blasio administration to make the overhaul of school discipline practices a top priority,” Lieberman said. “For the sake of 1.1 million school children, we must end the criminalization of school discipline, set clear limits on the use of suspensions and deliberately re-examine the relationship between the NYPD’s school safety officers, the DOE, and the students, faculty and families served by our city’s schools.”

The full guidance is available at: http://www.ed.gov/school-discipline/.