Bryan, Texas, has been under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education because black students are almost four times more likely to be punished than white students for the same offense.
Then, as ProPublica reports, Betsy DeVos came into office and began rolling back civil rights protections.
In Bryan, a 13-year-old girl was sent to juvenile detention and locked up for three days.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This punitive approach (ZERO TOLERANCE) just doesn’t work. Violence begets violence.
Here an article about how ZERO TOLERANCE has backfired. Of course students of color suffered from this punitive and inappropriate policy.
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/08/25/reforming-school-discipline
“A get-tough attitude prevailed among educators in the 1980s and 1990s, but research shows that zero-tolerance policies don’t make schools safer and lead to disproportionate discipline for students of color.”
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Because slavery is still alive and doing very well. It’s a mental slavery which keeps the brown skinned down, which then leads to rebellion and ultimately to juvy and then prison.
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the comments made after the article are more frightening than the actual article. No wonder Trump can do no wrong. Racial ashholerians rule.
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Oy! I normally don’t read comments after those types of articles, but you made me look.
Yes, with those attitudes, it’s no wonder Trump “won.”
And around 40% of the country continues to support him no matter what he does.
😦
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I read the comments, too. OMG!
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Most of these commenters don’t see black students as human. They are labeled. Very few read the article and believed the injustice that was so evident. [I commented a few times to Harriette, one of the few who actually is standing up for the abuse these kids have endured.]
So, label black children as inherently violent and then vote for Trump who is clean as the fallen snow.
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“Harsh discipline can backfire, especially when meted out arbitrarily. ”
In this arbitrary system, minorities, especially poor minorities are often the victims of unfair treatment. They are more likely to get stiffer sentences and have juveniles tried as adults. The poorest minorities often languish in prison because they cannot pay court fees, often a couple of hundred dollars. With privatization of prisons, the system is even worse. There is a monetary incentive to keep people in prison longer, and there have been instances of judges receiving kickbacks from prisons. Justice is not blind. The color of skin and the amount of money in someone’s pocket make a difference in every level of the justice system.
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Diane, I hope you see this in time to call into Brian Lehrer’s talk show today. He will be interviewing the new Chancellor of NYC schools who is advocating support for standardized testing. The phone # 212-433-9692
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I’ve worked in an all black school and in a number of racially mixed schools. None were like this. How appalling. There is NO end to the misery that bigoted Trump and his unfit, ignorant appointees can do. It makes me want to cry because so many people don’t see this happening. I read comments on other sites that complement Trump with unending praise.
This abused child was put in a disciplinary school that ’emphasizes computer-based instruction”? These kids NEED love and care not a computer. This is totally disgusting and there seems to be no recourse.
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…”In January 2018, after a classmate pulled Trah’Vaeziah’s hair, provoking a scuffle, she was sent back to the disciplinary school, which she currently attends. The school emphasizes computer-based instruction, so Trah’Vaeziah and the other students receive minimal personal instruction from teachers. They mainly watch video lectures and complete lessons online”….
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Thanks for this information, carolmalaysia. So, the system is set up to reinforced prejudice. Good GAWD.
Guess, those online “stuff” needs students for profits. What a perfect way to set up “CONTROLLED FAILURES.”
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I wish we’d stop using the word “discipline” to describe this kind of treatment. The word “discipline” means “to teach”. The only thing zero tolerance “teaches” is that power and control is more important than humanity. The proper word would be “punishment”. Or maybe even “abuse”.
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Yes. I’d go with “abuse” as being the currect term.
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AGREE…ABUSE! It’s everywhere these DAZE.
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How about punitive discipline?
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I think that’s kind of an oxymoron. You can either teach or you can punish, not both. Unless all you’re interested in teaching is who’s boss.
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Here is a teacher that spoke up for her students, even to DeVos. Her speech was not allowed to be recorded by the media. She addresses Trump’s ‘shit-hole’ comment about African and Haiti, and guns in the classroom.
……….
Meet the 2018 Teacher of the Year Honored by Trump Whom the White House Doesn’t Want You to Hear..Democracy Now
…MANDY MANNING: Well, at the heart of every teacher is their students. And in many states and in many areas, we are underserving many of our students. And sometimes it takes that collective voice, where teachers come together, to ensure that they have the supplies that they need and the equipment and also the compensation to be the very best that they can be for their students. And so, sometimes we don’t have a choice. When we want what’s best for our students, we have to come together with that collective voice, because that’s when we can make change.
And, of course, some—I was just listening to the show, your show, a little bit earlier, and some do speak about his language about people from Africa and how that hurts, and it encourages other people to use that same kind of language. And it does not make for positive connections within our community. So, the students were great. They had great insights into our nation. And they were very respectful and kind.
AMY GOODMAN: Mandy Manning, when President Trump called country—called Africa, which he called a country, Africa, Haiti, other countries “s—hole countries”—I mean, you’re an English teacher. You teach refugees and immigrants. What did you tell your students that day?
MANDY MANNING: I told them that we love them, that we know their value and that we can see that this is a place for them to come to have hope and dreams and be someone, and that we want them here and that they are lovely, beautiful human beings who make the United States a richer, more beautiful country.
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/7/meet_the_teacher_who_staged_a
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
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What do you mean “Why Was a 13-Year-Old Locked Up for Three Days in Bryan, Texas?”
The answer is SO easy.
It’s an easy breezy formula:
Person of color + youth + female + economically disadvantaged + ordinary teenage rambunctiousness + racism + normalization of high rate of incarceration + 50% of jails being privatized and depending on occupancy to earn profits + politicians who allow such legislation in exchange for campaign contributions = arrest of a young child for being a child.
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This just happened to a black fifth grade boy in NW Indiana. I doubt that this type of news makes headlines in the main stream media. One more student killed for no reason except the availability of guns.
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[NWI Times] UPDATE: 11-year-old East Chicago boy dies after being shot in head when fight breaks out near city park
EAST CHICAGO — A Washington Elementary School fifth-grader died Sunday after being shot in the head when a fight broke out Saturday in the city’s Harbor section.
Authorities have identified the boy as 11-year-old David Anderson.
School City of East Chicago Superintendent Paige McNulty said grief counselors were available at the school Monday morning to counsel students and staff.
“This is a tragic loss for our school district and for Washington Elementary,” she said. “We have had grief counselors assisting with students and staff there today and we will continue to support our school community for the rest of the week as needed.”…
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update–year-old-east-chicago-boy-dies-after-being/article_37be60b4-90e3-5021-9536-8fc1037ed8fc.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
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