DOE and DOJ Rescind School Discipline Guidance Protecting Students With Disabili

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https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/doe-doj-rescind-school-discipline-214546165.html

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice announced they have rescinded 2014 guidance set under President Barack Obama that added additional guidelines for school discipline for minority students and students with disabilities. Betsy DeVos made the announcement, which follows a new report reviewing the previous school discipline policies. She, along with the Departments of Education and Justice, determined pre-existing federal protections aare enough to protect all students.

The 2014 school discipline guidance was issued under President Barack Obama’s administration. Known as the “Dear Colleague letter,” it was designed to protect students who are typically discriminated against in school policies, acknowledging that minority students and students with disabilities are disproportionately affected by current school discipline practices.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Commission on School Safety, which was instated by President Donald Trump following the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in February 2018, released its report to improve school safety. The commission is chaired by DeVos.

Among other recommendations, the report said that a 2014 guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice ensuring minority students and students with disabilities aren’t unfairly disciplined should be abandoned. According to its report, the commission came to this conclusion after consulting teachers, parents, mental health professionals, law enforcement officers and school safety officials.

However, the commission’s report and the resulting decision to rescind the 2014 protections fail to address the issue of why the guidelines were created in the first place. Statistics show that kids in special education represent just 12 percent of students across the country, but account for about 20 percent of suspensions and expulsions and almost a quarter of school-related arrests. In addition, 71 percent of those restrained and 66 percent of those secluded in schools were students with disabilities.

Whether it’s the environment, healthcare, veterans or disabled students, this administration’s policy is plainly “Fuck ’em.”

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-panel-recommends-guns-schools-keep-us-students-234529717.html

Trump panel recommends guns in schools to keep US students safe

Washington (AFP) – A safety panel set up by US President Donald Trump in the wake of numerous school shootings recommended Tuesday that schools consider arming staff, using veterans as guards and reversing Obama-era guidelines.

The Federal Commission on School Safety panel, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, was set up after the February massacre in Parkland, Florida, when a former student shot dead 17 people, sparking mass gun control protests.

The commission rejected calls to increase the minimum age required for gun purchases, arguing in its 180-page report that most school shooters obtain their weapons from family members or friends.

Instead, it suggested arming staff — even teachers in some circumstances — “for the sake of effectively and immediately responding to violence.”

School districts where police responses could be slower, such as rural districts, may benefit in particular, the commission said.

It also recommended education authorities hiring military veterans and former police officers who “can also serve as highly effective educators.”

The report pushes for a review of disciplinary guidelines introduced in 2014 under former president Barack Obama, which suggested alternatives to suspension and expulsion to tackle discrimination against black and Latino students.

The commission’s report said the measure has had “a strong negative impact on school discipline and safety.”

The American Civil Liberties Union condemned that proposition.

“The Trump administration is exploiting tragedies to justify rolling back school children’s civil rights protections, despite the lack of any evidence linking school discipline reform to school shootings,” it said in a statement.

Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi, who will be US House speaker when her party take over the chamber in January, criticized the report saying Trump and DeVos “have reached a new low.”

“Their ‘report’ on school safety puts special interests and the NRA ahead of protecting America’s school children. Students & parents have had #Enough,” Pelosi wrote on Twitter.

She drew a backlash from Ryan Petty, a gun enthusiast and school safety advocate whose 14 year old daughter was killed in the Parkland massacre.

“Hi @NancyPelosi, it’s easy to be a critic. Harder to create. Would you sit down with Parkland families to discuss the report?,” Petty wrote on Twitter.

“We worked hard to ensure this report addresses top school safety priorities. It’s painful for us when you dismiss it without basis in fact,” he added.

Over 219,000 US students have been involved in a school shooting since the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre, according to figures collated by the Washington Post.

Giving guns to amateurs to use in an extreme situation is as stupid as anything this administration has come up with.

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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