"We must end school policies that most harm our Black students"
Article written by Atasi Uppal for EdSource
In the wake of protests across the country against the police force and their disproportionate policing of communities of color, it is imperative that schools examine how their policies also work to disproportionately police students of color, especially Black students. Research shows Black students have lost four times as many days of instruction due to school suspensions as their white peers in California, and these higher rates are consistent for Black students across the country. This creates a trajectory that leads these students into jails and prisons later in life, also known as the school-to-prison pipeline. The higher rates of policing Black students also lead to greater incidences of depression, anxiety and loneliness. Schools must adopt an anti-policing and anti-racist approach to how students are disciplined.
