Due Process Rights for Children in Schools Missouri Juvenile Justice Association Spring 2019 Conference May 23, 2019 Agenda
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Due Process Rights for Children in Schools Missouri Juvenile Justice Association Spring 2019 Conference May 23, 2019 Agenda • Introduction to the Education Justice Program (EJP) /LSEM • School to Prison Pipeline – Common themes – Regional and National Statistics – Recommendations • Federal and State Laws Protecting Students’ Rights • EJP Litigation # Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Legal Services of Eastern Missouri provides free legal assistance to low-income individuals and the elderly in 21 counties of Eastern Missouri LSEM Units 21 Counties of Eastern MO Consumer Law * Housing Law * Children’s Legal Adair * Clark * Franklin * Alliance* Advocates for Family Health * Health Jefferson * Knox * Lewis * Justice Initiative* Public Benefits* Volunteer Lincoln * Macon * Marion * Lawyers Program* Veterans Advocacy* Education Monroe * Montgomery * Pike Justice* Marketplace Assistance (ACA)* Lasting * Ralls * Schuyler * Scotland Solutions/Family Law* Family Court (St. Louis * Shelby * St. Charles * St. County)* Elder Law * Immigration * Legal Louis * St. Louis City * Assistance for Adults with Mental Illness* Youth & Warren * Washington Family Advocacy* Community Economic Development # Education Justice Program (EJP) The Education Justice Program (EJP) started fully in October 2017. We are a division within Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, and we target the root causes of education inequity in Missouri through a racial justice lens and a community lawyering model to advance systemic change. We focus on community lawyering and heavy outreach ▪ Canvassing (door-to-door) ▪ Small listening sessions ▪ Meeting with community leaders, including Pastors and homeless shelters ▪ Cold-calls to community partners ▪ Concerted effort to reach groups we hadn't been able to reach before # Education Justice Program (EJP) Our work includes: ▪ Litigating school discipline and other education cases ▪ Drafting policy papers ▪ Community outreach and education ▪ Filing complaints with the US Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights WE HELP KEEP KIDS IN SCHOOL AND WE HELP THEM GET A QUALITY EDUCATION, WHETHER THEY ARE IN SCHOOL, SUSPENDED, OR EXPELLED. # THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE # The School to Prison Pipeline What Phenomenon describing practices within the education, juvenile justice, and is it? criminal justice systems that create a path from school to prison* Greater effect on students of color and students with disabilities* School Policy Pushes Students Out** *Source: www.aclu.org/print/racial-justice/what-school-prison-pipeline **Source: Dennis Parker, ACLU Racial Justice Program Director, found at http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/brown-v-board-students-criminalized # Pathways from the Classroom to the Courtroom Classroom Classroom Classroom Unaddressed academic failure Misbehavior Misbehavior Drop out Out-of-School School-based arrest or court Suspension or Expulsion referral Negative psychological, social, and behavioral effects Negative psychological, social, Court and behavioral effects Delinquent behavior Delinquent or criminal behavior # Court Court THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE Key Features of the School-to-Prison Pipeline • Lack of Trauma-Informed Practices in School • Zero Tolerance Policies • Overuse of Suspension and Expulsion • Culture of Surveillance • Increased Presence and Use of Law Enforcement • Inadequate Alternative Education Programs • Systemic Barriers to School Attendance # Trauma • Exposure to trauma can impact physical, emotional and brain development – Internalize and/or externalize stress reactions and emotional responses can vary (trembling, anger, sadness, or avoidance) – Children experiencing complex trauma may have trouble with self-regulation- reacting unpredictably or dissociating *Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network: https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/complex-trauma/effects # Implication of Trauma on Education More difficult to access classroom content Harder to focus, recall, remember, process information and problem solve Leads to inconsistent academic performance and higher rates of absenteeism 3X more likely to drop out Decreased reading ability More likely to perform Language and verbal below grade level and processing deficits have lower GPAs Delays in expressive and Higher rates of office receptive language referrals, suspensions, and expulsions More likely to be misclassified and placed in special education *Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network: https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/complex-trauma/effects # “Zero Tolerance” Policies ▪ Automatic imposition of severe punishment regardless of how minor the violation – E.g.: Suspensions because of uniform violations; truancy, etc. ▪ Most schools claim to have eliminated zero-tolerance policies but still engage in zero-tolerance practices # Overuse of Suspensions and Expulsions • Suspension – Short-term: 10 days or less (by Principal) – Long-term: more than 10 days and up to 180 days (by Superintendent or designee) • Expulsion – Anything beyond 180 days (by Board of Education) • Increased rates overall, especially for students of color and students with disabilities • De facto Suspensions & Expulsions – Student sent home or signed out instead of being officially suspended/expelled • Lack of due process protections # Culture of Surveillance ▪ Regard children as being threats ▪ Policing of School Hallways ▪ Metal Detectors ▪ Pat Downs ▪ Backpack Checks ▪ Camera Surveillance ▪ Checking Social Media Posts # Increased Use of Law Enforcement ▪ Law enforcement plays an active role in routine school disciplinary matters that should be handled by school staff and administrators. ▪ School Security Guards ▪ School Resource Officers ▪ School-based arrests for disruptive behavior ▪ Seclusion and restraint ▪ Schools with a student population of at least 50% black students are much more likely to have a full-time SRO on school grounds ▪ Schools with an SRO or police presence are more likely to have arrests for minor offenses such as disorderly conduct than their peers at schools without an SRO or police presence, even though they are not more likely to be charged with a crime ▪ # Inadequate Alternative Education Programs • Private, for-profit companies • Different accountability standards – Classroom hours – Qualified teachers – Curriculum requirements • Almost impossible to catch-up • Less structure for student # Barriers to School Attendance ▪ Homelessness ▪ McKinney-Vento Act ▪ ESSA ▪ Family Court Involvement ▪ Foster Children ▪ Fostering Connections Act ▪ Delinquency Proceedings ▪ Safe Schools Act ▪ Prior Suspensions & Expulsions # Absenteeism • Chronically Absent- Missing more than 3 weeks of school, or 15 days* • When students are not in school, they are not being exposed to content, causing them to fall behind. *Source: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/04/25/school-attendance-a-building-block-of-student-achievement/ # “Out of school” youth are Chronic more likely to become 1.3 involved in physical fights, Absenteeism carry a weapon, smoke, Million Youth use alcohol, marijuana drop out of and other drugs, and school each year engage in sexual intercourse *** Linked to low Linked to Low reading student proficiency 3X Achievement which is linked more likely and lower to not to be course graduating on Incarcerated* performance* time.** ** *Source: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/04/25/school-attendance-a-building-block-of-student-achievement/ **Source: http://www.americangraduate.org/blogs/latest-education-headlines/2015/09/01/every-day-counts-facts-on-attendance- achievement/ *** Source: http://www.dignityinschools.org/files/DSC_Pushout_Fact_Sheet.pdf # Other Factors: Failing Public Schools ▪ Inadequate resources ▪ Concentrated poverty & trauma ▪ Overcrowded classrooms ▪ Underqualified teachers and unqualified substitute teachers ▪ Insufficient funding/allocation of funds ▪ Counselors ▪ Special Education services ▪ Social Workers ▪ Test-based accountability ▪ Charter Schools # Regional and National Statistics # Missouri Discipline Data # 2 in disproportionate suspension rates # 10 in percentage of students suspended who are African-American and with disabilities Between 2011 and 2014, the rate of students expelled from school in Missouri doubled. *See national study with 2009-2010 performed by Civil Rights Project at UCLA See ACLU-MO 2017 Report (From Schools to Prison: Missouri’s Pipeline of Injustice) # Missouri Discipline Data Kindergarten Through Third Grade # Missouri Discipline Data Racial Disparity Map St Louis Public Schools •Percent Black Enrollment: 82.59% •Percent of suspensions given to black students: 97.01% Normandy •Percent Black Enrollment: 96.50% •Percent of suspensions given to black students: 100% Hazelwood •Percent Black Enrollment: 73.40% •Percent of suspensions given to black students: 92.60% Ferguson-Florissant •Percent Black Enrollment: 80.70% •Percent of suspensions given to black students: 94.56% Webster Groves •Percent Black Enrollment: 16.70% •Percent of suspensions given to black students: 49.49% Clayton •Percent Black Enrollment: 17.66% •Percent of suspensions given to black students: 51.67% # National Discipline Data • Black students are 4.5 times more likely to be suspended than White students. • Those with disabilities were more than 3 times more likely to be suspended than their white disabled peers. *See national study with 2009-2010 performed by Civil Rights Project at UCLA See ACLU-MO 2017 Report (From Schools to Prison: Missouri’s Pipeline of Injustice) # National