goldenequity
03-26-2018, 09:52 AM
978184907439640576
Trump to Scrap Obama-era rule that turned schools into ‘war zones’
https://nypost.com/2018/03/24/trump-scrapping-obama-era-rule-that-turned-schools-into-war-zones/
OBAMA
Obama-era 2014 ‘Rethink School Discipline’ rule:
The 2014 federal directive, issued jointly by the US departments of Education and Justice,
warned public school districts receiving federal funding
that they could face investigation and funding cuts if they fail to reduce statistical “disparities” in discipline by race.
On average, the Obama administration noted, black students are suspended at three times the rate of their white peers.
The directive also
►discouraged student arrests
►and holds districts liable for the actions of “school resource officers … or other law enforcement personnel.”
TRUMP
The Trump administration plans this summer to scrap the controversial rule.
“The scope of it is breathtaking,”
“more schools saw fighting, disrespect, drugs, gang activity,”
--Max Eden, an education policy expert and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
He says surveys show schools serving predominantly minority students have been hit hardest by the resulting breakdown in discipline,
with violence and chaos mushrooming out of control in urban districts.
Studies show that more than 50 other urban school districts across the country have seen similar flare-ups in violent behavior since softening their discipline codes.
The one-size-fits-all federal policy, which recommends group counseling sessions and other alternatives to traditional discipline
have continued into the Trump administration.
More than 300 school districts remain under federal scrutiny, including NYC schools serving millions of students.
Last week, a delegation of parents, teachers, students, police and at least one school board member from Baltimore
shared horror stories with US Education Department staffers about how the federal guidelines have handcuffed administrators and police
from disciplining violent bullies.
“These policies are highly dangerous,” said one of the parents, Nicole Landers, who has three children in the Baltimore system.
“They are turning our schools into war zones.”
Teachers and parents have pushed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to repeal the rule,
while Democrats and civil-rights groups paint efforts to take away the regulation,
which they call “a critical tool” for protecting African-American students from discrimination, as racist.
“Rescinding the guidance would send the message that the department does not care
that schools are discriminating against children of color by disproportionately kicking them out of school,”
DeVos has not said publicly if she will rescind it, other than to say, “We are studying that rule.”
►But she has rolled back several other Obama regulations
►and has hired staff lawyers who oppose the lax discipline policy,
►while cutting $1 million from the budget of the civil-rights office that enforces it.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is on board the decision to scrap the Obama rule.
President Trump earlier this month appointed Sessions to a school-safety commission chaired by DeVos to consider, among other things,
“the repeal of the Obama administration’s ‘Rethink School Discipline’ policies.”
Trump to Scrap Obama-era rule that turned schools into ‘war zones’
https://nypost.com/2018/03/24/trump-scrapping-obama-era-rule-that-turned-schools-into-war-zones/
OBAMA
Obama-era 2014 ‘Rethink School Discipline’ rule:
The 2014 federal directive, issued jointly by the US departments of Education and Justice,
warned public school districts receiving federal funding
that they could face investigation and funding cuts if they fail to reduce statistical “disparities” in discipline by race.
On average, the Obama administration noted, black students are suspended at three times the rate of their white peers.
The directive also
►discouraged student arrests
►and holds districts liable for the actions of “school resource officers … or other law enforcement personnel.”
TRUMP
The Trump administration plans this summer to scrap the controversial rule.
“The scope of it is breathtaking,”
“more schools saw fighting, disrespect, drugs, gang activity,”
--Max Eden, an education policy expert and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
He says surveys show schools serving predominantly minority students have been hit hardest by the resulting breakdown in discipline,
with violence and chaos mushrooming out of control in urban districts.
Studies show that more than 50 other urban school districts across the country have seen similar flare-ups in violent behavior since softening their discipline codes.
The one-size-fits-all federal policy, which recommends group counseling sessions and other alternatives to traditional discipline
have continued into the Trump administration.
More than 300 school districts remain under federal scrutiny, including NYC schools serving millions of students.
Last week, a delegation of parents, teachers, students, police and at least one school board member from Baltimore
shared horror stories with US Education Department staffers about how the federal guidelines have handcuffed administrators and police
from disciplining violent bullies.
“These policies are highly dangerous,” said one of the parents, Nicole Landers, who has three children in the Baltimore system.
“They are turning our schools into war zones.”
Teachers and parents have pushed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to repeal the rule,
while Democrats and civil-rights groups paint efforts to take away the regulation,
which they call “a critical tool” for protecting African-American students from discrimination, as racist.
“Rescinding the guidance would send the message that the department does not care
that schools are discriminating against children of color by disproportionately kicking them out of school,”
DeVos has not said publicly if she will rescind it, other than to say, “We are studying that rule.”
►But she has rolled back several other Obama regulations
►and has hired staff lawyers who oppose the lax discipline policy,
►while cutting $1 million from the budget of the civil-rights office that enforces it.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is on board the decision to scrap the Obama rule.
President Trump earlier this month appointed Sessions to a school-safety commission chaired by DeVos to consider, among other things,
“the repeal of the Obama administration’s ‘Rethink School Discipline’ policies.”