Obama Administration Issues New School Disciplin Guidlines, Claim Zero Tolerance Policies May Be Discriminatory

Yes, kids these days have it rough man. It seems that there is a good chance that if you get in trouble at school these days it is racially motivated or discrimination against special needs kids according to some studies that I assume were carried out in the strictest scientific methods known to man.

Ahem.

School discipline: New US guidelines shift away from zero-tolerance policies.

By Amanda Paulson January 8, 2014 6:40 PM

The school discipline guidelines are a response to a growing body of statistics showing both the costs of harsh disciplinary policies and the frequent inequities in how they’re applied.

Tough school discipline codes like zero-tolerance policies and mandatory suspensions for even minor infractions may have significant costs and glaring inequities.

That was a major message behind new guidelines issued Wednesday by the Obama administration, calling on schools to seek alternatives to harsh penalties like expulsions and suspensions that rob students of classroom time and may be racially biased.

The guidelines emphasize the need for a positive school climate and supports, clear and appropriate expectations and consequences, and equity in discipline policies. They're a response to a growing body of statistics showing both the costs of harsh disciplinary policies and the frequent inequities in how they’re applied, particularly to black and special-education students.

snip


Secretary Duncan emphasized the harsh costs of the overuse of suspensions and expulsions, including students left unsupervised and the loss of needed interventions, mentorship, and classroom time.

In his letter,Duncan cited statistics showing both wide use of suspensions and expulsions and inequity in how such punishments are meted out. African-American students without disabilities are over three times more likely than their white peers to receive suspensions or expulsions, for instance. And special-education students, who make up 12 percent of the student population, make up 25 percent of the students receiving multiple out-of-school suspensions, 19 percent of students expelled, and 23 percent of students receiving a school-related arrest.

My emphasis.
Read the whole thing here as there is quite a bit more to this article.


Yes, I cherry picked this article, it is a Yahoo article but if you notice the By Line above, it is actually written by The Christian Science Monitor.

I kept seeing a variation of this one phrase over and over,
"a growing body of statistics", and people "citing statistics"

What I did not see however, were any actual statistics other than the ones above and there were no citations associated with them.

They must be pretty convincing though, enough so to cause the Obama administration to cook up some new "guidelines" to shove down everyone concerned's throat, without any funding of course.

You can call me a racist motherfucker all damn day long and I could give a rats ass, because I do have big enough balls to ask this question;

Why was this not a big enough problem to address until the issue of discrimination was injected into the equation?

Somebody answer that fucking question.

I would love to hear that story.