Friday, July 22, 2011

Over Half of all Texas Middle and High School Kids Suspended or Expelled. Amazing!

Anytime you see a story headlined “school-to-prison pipeline,” you can’t help get the sinking feeling something is wrong with our system of discipline in schools. But while that idea is bad enough, what's happening in Texas is even worse.

It’s true that many Republican controlled states emulate Texas, but my guess is they’ll want to quickly glance over this major factoid:

New Initiative Targets 'School-to-Prison' Pipeline: A new undertaking from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education targets school discipline policies that end up pushing children into the juvenile-justice system for crimes and rule-breaking on campus—and keeping them from pursuing their education.

But here’s the jaw dropping statistic I’m still trying to wrap my mind around:

Edweek: AG Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan referenced a report by the Council of State Governments Justice Center from earlier this week that found that more than half of all Texas middle and high school students were suspended or expelled at least once between 7th and 12th grades.

More than HALF were suspended or expelled? Now that’s Texas family values. 

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