This issue of NASET’sDiscipline of Students in Special Education series focuses on confronting racial discrimination in student discipline. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division jointly released the Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline. The departments recognize and appreciate school administrators, teachers, and education staff across the nation who work to administer student discipline fairly, and to provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory educational environment for all students, teachers, and other educators. The resource guide can be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tvi-student-discipline-resource-202305.pdf
This issue of NASET’sDiscipline of Students in Special Education series focuses on confronting racial discrimination in student discipline. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division jointly released the Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline. The departments recognize and appreciate school administrators, teachers, and education staff across the nation who work to administer student discipline fairly, and to provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory educational environment for all students, teachers, and other educators. The resource guide can be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tvi-student-discipline-resource-202305.pdf
Dear Colleague: The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice (Departments) share with educators around the country the goal that all students attend schools where they are supported, safe, and able to access an excellent education. A school environment that is free from discrimination is essential to meeting that goal. Decades of enforcement activity by the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education and the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title IV), have demonstrated that discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in student discipline was, and continues to be, a significant concern. The examples of investigations of racial discrimination in student discipline in this Resource span the current and two most recent presidential administrations, reflecting the continuing urgency of assuring nondiscrimination in student discipline in our nation’s schools as well as continuity in the Departments’ enforcement practices over that time. The Departments are committed to supporting school communities to fulfill Congress’ nondiscrimination guarantee for students in schools. The Departments recognize and appreciate school administrators, teachers, and educational staff across the nation who work to administer student discipline fairly and provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory educational environment for all students and a safe environment for educators.
Discrimination in student discipline forecloses opportunities for students, pushing them out of the classroom and diverting them from a path to success in school and beyond. Significant disparities by race – beginning as early as preschool – have persisted in the application of student discipline in schools. i While racial disparities in student discipline alone do not violate the law, ensuring compliance with Federal nondiscrimination obligations can involve examining the underlying causes of such disparities. In specific cases, the Departments and the courts have concluded that violations of the laws the Departments enforce underlie these disparities. In the Departments’ experience, some school communities examine their data to evaluate their own civil rights compliance, and the Departments likewise refer to data as one among several tools for analysis. To offer information about the Departments’ enforcement efforts in this area, the Resource summarizes several past investigations involving race, color, or national origin discrimination in student discipline policies or practices conducted under the nondiscrimination laws and regulations the Departments enforce, including Title VI.
In recent years, educators, students, and families have faced extraordinary and unprecedented challenges in their schools and communities. As a result of the pandemic, students have reported stress, trauma, isolation, and lost learning opportunities, with significant academic and mental health consequences. Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data reflect that more than one third of high school students reported during the pandemic that they had faced bad or unfair treatment because of their race or ethnicity. Students who reported such experiences also reported poor mental health and less connection to school. v In this context, parents, guardians, and communities have struggled to overcome practical and economic barriers and to support student learning. And school administrators, teachers, and educational staff have worked to meet the academic, social, and behavioral needs of their students in this incredibly challenging environment, while themselves experiencing the harms of the pandemic. Against this backdrop of sustained challenges and interrupted learning, students particularly benefit from attending class, fully engaged and in learning environments that are positive, inclusive, and safe. The student mental health crisis, including recent research showing one in three girls considered suicide during the pandemic, requires that we work urgently now, to ensure that all students feel welcome and supported in school – including by ensuring nondiscrimination in student discipline.
To support schools during these unprecedented times, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) of 2022 provides historic funding, including $1 billion in grant funding to help schools establish safe, healthy, and supportive learning opportunities and environments and $1 billion in funding to increase the number of mental health professionals in schools. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education has distributed $122 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to states and school districts to help address students’ needs that resulted from the pandemic.vii With input from parents and communities, States and school districts may use ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and other ARP funds to help ensure nondiscriminatory access to programs in a variety of ways to meet students’ behavioral, mental health, and academic needs. ARP ESSER funds may be used to address the needs of students, particularly those who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, by creating and sustaining safe, stable, positive, and inclusive learning environments including through development and implementation of discipline policies that emphasize preventive practices and strategies. For example, ARP ESSER funds may be used to:
• Support the analysis and use of data related to attendance, academic success, and discipline to identify students in need of additional supports and guide improvements.
• Support the administration and analysis of high-quality school climate and other surveys to identify needs arising from the pandemic.
• Fully staff schools, including with school counselors and other certified mental health professionals, and provide students with tutoring, afterschool and summer learning, and enrichment programs to help students make meaningful academic and behavioral progress as students and educators respond to and recover from the pandemic.
• Support professional development for teachers, school leaders, and other educators on meeting students’ needs arising from the pandemic, including the importance of managing their classrooms in a nondiscriminatory way.
• Build strong teacher-student relationships and improve school engagement as part of the efforts to address the impact of lost instructional time resulting from the pandemic.
More information about effective strategies to address the impact of lost instructional time and allowable uses of ARP ESSER and BSCA funds is available in the Department of Education’s Frequently Asked Questions, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Programs/Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Programs document, and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Stronger Connections Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions.
We share the information in this Resource to support your schools’ efforts to confront the issue of race discrimination in student discipline effectively. The Departments are also available to provide technical assistance to support schools’ efforts to create welcoming, supportive, and safe educational environments for all students.
Thank you for your continued commitment to ensuring that all schools provide supportive and safe learning and working environments for students and staff that are free from discrimination.
To review the entire resource guide titled, “Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline”, visit https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tvi-student-discipline-resource-202305.pdf
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