Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Urged to Scrap Obama-Era ‘Black Lives Matter’ School Discipline...

Hi Susan, I agree 100% with your statement. What worries me is forcing schools to ignore disciplinary problems (regardless of race).

Here is a quote from a 30-year retired teacher (RAY SCHOCH): "Discrimination in the form of more harsh discipline for one group over another when the offense is the same is inexcusable. That said, however, it matters not what percentage of the student body is of a particular heritage when it comes to behavior and decorum. If the shoe fits, you wear it. If most of the disruptive behavior is coming from kids of a particular group, it's worth investigating why that's the case. If – and it's a very important "if" – discrimination can be ruled out as an institutional response, then whatever discipline is being applied is being applied to the children who've earned the disciplinary response, and that's as it should be. Ignoring bad behavior will not fix the problem but in fact, make it worse."

https://www.minnpost.com/education/2017/12/minnesota-educators-weigh-student-discipline-debate-unfolding-dc

CMSgt (Join to see) - I see your point, and I agree that when kids are violent or disruptive there has to be discipline. I certainly don't believe they should tolerate bad behavior. But the article points that she's thinking about removing the rule that says there will be any investigation on whether discrimination is even happening. There's been a growing body of evidence for years that increasingly says there is discrimination in the ways schools dole out discipline. Black and Latino students are much more likely to be disciplined and suffer greater rates of in- and out-of-school suspensions. So I do not understand how not investigating it helps that situation. In fact, by keeping an investigation requirement, would it not then help the school prove they apply discipline fairly, no matter who it is?

I agree, one should never argue against transparency.