The Minnesota Human Rights Department recently reached agreements with nine additional school districts — for a total of 20 — which pledge to work with the state to reduce suspension and expulsion rates for students of color and students with disabilities. Commissioner Kevin Lindsey says, “There’s no doubt that there has to be the ability for the school officials… to control the classroom… but it’s also important for us not to… make a situation worse by then taking this kid out of the class for the full day.”
Lindsey says the goal when a kid makes trouble in school is to “make sure that from a culture standpoint, all teachers are seeing this as a teachable moment, not as a punitive moment. As a parent, I may have a conversation, I may identify chores, but I’m not gonna be kicking my kid out of the house.” He says the effort will also focus on consistently applying policies at all schools in a district and lessening what’s termed “implicit bias.” Lindsey expects more districts to sign up soon.
The state Education Department says African American students are eight times more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than their white counterparts, and for Native American students it’s 10 times as likely.
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