Latest news with #BourneSchoolCommittee

Boston Globe

Trump seeks ‘common sense' discipline in schools; critics warn of civil rights rollback

Advertisement The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to issue new guidance in place of President Joe Biden's, which had said schools that unfairly discipline students could be violating civil rights law and lose federal funds. The 2014 Obama policy, which later was rescinded by Trump, was based on the theory of 'disparate impact,' the idea a policy could violate federal law just by disproportionately affecting one race or ethnic group, even if the policy is facially neutral and evenly applied. Related : In the decade since, school discipline rates in Massachusetts have gone down for all racial and ethnic groups, and gaps have narrowed among the groups. Biden's recommendations were less sweeping than President Barack Obama's, but the declining discipline rate continued here. Trump's order describes the Obama policy as requiring schools to discriminate based on race and orders McMahon to take action against states and districts that racially discriminate. The Trump administration also Advertisement 'Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline,' McMahon said in a statement. 'Their policies placed racial equity quotas over student safety — encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion." The order also seems to take issue with data collection encouraged under Biden. Concerns about Nadia Romanazzi, a spokesperson for the social justice-focused Massachusetts Appleseed Center, said her center finds the policies concerning and wants the state to step up. 'There is significant research and data that show that there are large discipline disparities between students of color and their white counterparts, and that these disparities are not necessarily a result of difference in actual behaviors, but rather a difference in the enforcement mechanisms of the discipline policies,' Romanazzi said. For example, she said, the Supporters of the Trump policy argue that in recent years, that script has been flipped, and schools were treating students of color more leniently so those students wouldn't face more discipline. 'Students need to be treated equally,' said Bourne School Committee member Kari MacRae. 'We can't have a certain set of rules for students based on their race. That's really what was happening.' Advertisement MacRae previously worked as a teacher in Hanover but lost her job in 2021 after posting a series of social media videos 'Then it became a directive that we had to manage things in the classroom, because the data was showing we were sending too many students to the principals,' MacRae said. 'The Trump administration is about going back to common sense.' Pam Ahern, president of Parental Rights Natick, said in a statement her group 'supports unbiased school policies and practices that favor the individual versus the collective.' 'We hope the federal government's executive order is a step toward restoring smart, color-blind, and common sense policies that support the safety of all students regardless of their identity traits,' she said. Other advocates, however, said the order is not the solution even if student behavior is a real concern. Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, said by limiting data collection, the order 'takes away our ability to know what the problems are.' Trump's order does not explicitly prohibit collecting data on racial disparities in discipline. But it takes issue with the Biden administration encouraging schools to collect and analyze that data and adjust policies in response. 'The 2023 guidance thus effectively reinstated the practice of weaponizing Title VI to promote an approach to school discipline based on discriminatory equity ideology,' the order reads. Advertisement Tang noted the state has 'You can't erase the impacts of decades of real discrimination,' she said. 'Ignoring the data, or not tracking it, doesn't mean that things are better, or that civil rights are not being violated.' Related : In many schools around the country, Black students have been In Massachusetts, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has a ' 'The goal of Rethinking Discipline is to help reduce the inappropriate or excessive use of long-term suspension and expulsion, an effort that benefits all students," said spokesperson Jacqueline Reis. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Christopher Huffaker can be reached at