This letter was sent to the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) Commissioner and Chair of Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, requesting that both take action to ensure that school districts are complying with an important state law designed to address the very serious problem of racial and other disparities in the use of out-of-school suspensions on children.
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ACLU Calls on PVD School Officials to Promptly Address “Alarming” Racial Disparities in Discipline
Citing a “persistently disproportionate use of disciplinary action and suspensions against students of color,” the ACLU of Rhode Island has called upon Providence school officials to take immediate action to address this problem before the school session starts next month – a problem that former school superintendent Christopher Maher attributed to “racism” before he stepped down from his post earlier this year.
ACLU Report Shows Record High Racial Disparities in School Discipline Rates Last Year
A report issued by the ACLU of Rhode Island today shows that Rhode Island’s public schools last year disproportionately suspended black students at the highest rates in nine years, while white students were suspended at record low rates. Like black children, Hispanic students remained severely over-suspended, with these disparities reaching all the way to the lowest grades. In addition, students generally – including elementary school children – were given out-of-school suspensions at alarming rates for minor disciplinary infractions.
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