WASHINGTON, D.C. – The ACLU released a report complaining that public schools in the U.S. – which now serve mostly children of color – have too many police, not enough counselors, and may disproportionally suspend minority children as discipline.
In recently released report, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says data collected by the U.S. Department of Education “reveals the extent of police presence in schools, the lack of basic services, and the growing racial disparities in public school systems serving 50 million students.”
Here are some key takeaways:
- For the first time in history, public schools in America are serving mostly children of color.
- Students who missed school in 2015-16 because of suspensions – disproportionately students of color – were denied a total of 11 million days of instruction. That’s 60,000 school years and 60 million hours of lost education. All in a single school year.
- Millions of students are in schools with cops but no counselor, social worker, or nurse. In 2015-2016, there was a student-to-counselor ratio of 444:1.
The ACLU went on to criticize President Donald Trump, saying his administration “is calling for increasing ‘law and order’ with more school police, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is even considering allowing the use of federal funds to arm teachers with guns – moves that will harm students of color the most and deepen education inequality.”
