January 29, 2014
jdnrtkuth (Dbseruer
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Steps Forward on School Discipline
Helping our kids
strive and thrive
M arian W right E delman
In m a n y
A m e ric a n
s c h o o ls
th e
h o lid a y c e l
e b r a tin g D r.
M artin L u th er
K ing J r.’s birth
day is used as an opportunity to
teach children about his life and
legacy. B ut in too m any o f those
sam e schools, black and other n o n
w hite and poor chi ldren ’ s extrao rd i
nary talents are still being w asted
today.
by
N early three-quarters o f black and
L atino fourth and eighth grade p u b
lic school students cannot read or
com pute at grade level. L ong after
legal segregation has ended black
students are still m ost likely to be
excluded from the classroom . W hen
black students are so often left b e
hind and pushed out it should not
surprise us that black students are
m ore than tw ice as likely to drop out
o f school_as w hite students.
So I applaud the U .S. D ep art
m ents o f E ducation and Justice for
th eir recent action to address h arm T itle VI o f the C ivil R ights A ct o f
ful school d iscipline policies that 1964.
p u sh so m any th o u san d s o f the
W hile the guidance offered is
m ost v u ln erab le ch ild ren ou t o f voluntary, school districts that fail
school each y ear and into the ju v e to use effective strategies to a d
nile ju stic e and adult prison p ip e dress disparities in how discipline is
line.
applied could be subject to legal
If the ed ucation system is to do action from the D epartm ent o f E d u
its part in dism antling the cradle to cation or D epartm ent o f Justice.
prison pipeline and in replacing it
A s w e recognize the 50th an n i
w ith a cradle to college, career and versary o f the C ivil R ights A ct o f
success pipeline, w e m ust end the 1964 and so m any other im portant
current p ractice w here children in hard w on victories in the Civil Rights
the g reatest need are su sp en d ed M ovem ent this year, w e m ust re
and expelled from school m ostly for m em b er those victories could be
nonviolent offenses including ta r lost w ithout m eaningful en fo rce
diness and truancy.
m ent o f the law s advocates fought
I have n ev er un d ersto o d w hy so hard to w in h a lf a century ago.
you put a child out o f school fo r not
T he C h ild ren ’s D efense Fund has
com ing to school rather than d eter been speaking out against school
m ining w hy they are absent.
d iscipline policies that continue to
I hope the new set o f resources stack the odds against poor ch il
released by the D ep artm en ts o f dren and children o f co lo r for all o f
E d u catio n and Ju stice w ill h elp o u r 40 years.
schools create positive, safe en v i
Several o f C D F ’s state offices
ronm ents w hile relying less on e x h a v e b e en m o b iliz in g stu d en ts,
clusionary discipline tactics. T hese youths, parents, advocates, ed u ca
resources, officially know n as “guid tors, co m m u n ity leaders, and co ali
ance,” w ill help schools and d is tion partners to ensure students are
tricts m eet th eir legal responsibility not unfairly pun ish ed and pushed
to protect students from d iscrim in a out o f school into the prison p ip e
tion on the basis o f race, color, o r line. T he new guidance is a valuable
national origin as required under tool for them and all parents and
com m unities.
W hile the guidance does not p ro
hibit schools or districts from using
any p articu lar n o n d iscrim in ato ry
policy, it does call into question
som e policies that have h istorically
excluded black and L atino students
disproportionately and are o f q u es
tionable educational value— includ
ing “zero to leran ce” discipline p o li
cies w hich require m andatory co n
sequences fo r certain infractions,
and policies that prevent students
from returning to school after com ple
tion o f a court sentence, w hich co m
pound the often discrim inatory e f
fects o f the ju v en ile and crim inal
ju stic e system s. Perhaps the m ost
absurd and outrageous are policies
w hich allow o r require suspension
o r expulsion for students w ho have
been truant— punishing children for
being absent by forcing them to be
a b se n t.
T he new guidance reco m m en d a
tions are valuable to ev ery o n e co n
cern ed about success fo r all o f the
n a tio n ’s ch ild ren — including stu
dents, parents, educators, and co m
m unity m em bers. T hey reiterate the
longstanding right o f parents to seek
federal intervention on b e h alf o f
their ch ild re n ’s civil rights.
If you are a p aren t and believe
that y o u r child has been d iscrim i
nated against on the basis o f his o r
h er race, color, national origin, sex,
o r disability, file a co m p laint w ith
the U.S. D epartm ent o f E ducation
O ffice for C ivil Rights. G o to school
board m eetings and ask questions.
M eet w ith your neighbors to learn
about the experience o f students in
y o u r co m m u n ity ’s schools.
W ith all o f this inform ation—
w hat Dr. K ing called “co llection o f
the facts to determ ine w h ether in
ju stic es are aliv e”— you can m ake
y o u r case in the m edia, organize
a ro u n d sch o o l b o a rd e le c tio n s ,
reach out to local and state elected
officials, and com e together w ith
others to dem and change.
I t’s w ay past tim e to end child
exclusion from the indispensible life
line o f education. This tim e, like so
m any good law s and regulations,
the true test o f the value o f this new
guidance w ill be how well it is im ple
m ented. L e t’s all jo in in to m ake sure
everyone has a stake in helping our
children strive and thrive in school.
T h eir future and o ur n a tio n ’s future
depend on it.
Marian Wright Edelman is Presi
dent o f the Children's Defense Fund.
He Challenged Us to Face Uncomfortable Truths
The life and legacy of Amiri Baraka
by M arc H. M orial
v a rio u sly d e sc rib e d as a b e a tn ik ,
a b la c k n a tio n a list an d a M a rx ist.
B ut h e w as first an d fo re m o s t a
w rite r an d so cia l c o m m e n ta to r o f
u n c o m m o n sk ill an d in sig h t.
H is 1963 m a ste rp ie c e , “ B lu es
P e o p le ,” w h ic h e x p lo re d th e h is
to ric a l ro o ts an d so c io lo g ic a l s ig
n ific a n c e o f th e b lu e s an d ja z z ,
h as b e c o m e a c la s s ic th a t is still
ta u g h t in c o lle g e c la ssro o m s to
d ay .
O n J a n . 9,
w ith the p a s s
ing o f th e p ro
lific p o e t, p la y
w rig h t, e s s a y
is t, a n d c ritic
A m iri B arak a ,
o n e o f th e lite r
ary g ia n ts o f th e 2 0 th c e n tu ry w as
c a lle d h o m e. A s w e o ffe r c o n d o
le n ce s to h is w ife, c h ild re n an d
fa m ily , w e re m e m b e r the 7 9 -y e a r-
A lm o st e v e ry b la ck an d p ro
o ld B a ra k a n o t o n ly fo r h is b o ld , g re s siv e w rite r an d th in k e r o f the
in v e n tiv e an d ic o n o c la s tic lite r 2 0 th c e n tu ry sh a re d a k in sh ip ,
ary v o ic e , b u t a lso as a c o u ra frie n d s h ip o r fe u d w ith B arak a.
g e o u s so cia l ju s tic e a ctiv ist.
B u t, u n d e rg ird in g e v e ry th in g he
H is id e a s a n d w o rk h a d a p o w w ro te a n d sto o d fo r w as h is d e sire
«
erfu l im p a c t on b o th th e B la ck to lift up th e d o w n tro d d e n and
A rts an d C iv il R ig h ts m o v e m e n ts d is e n fra n c h is e d , e sp e c ia lly in h is
b e g in n in g in th e 1960s.
h o m e to w n o f N e w a rk , N .J.
B arak a w as b e st k n o w n fo r his
A s a te sta m e n t to h is b ro a d
ecle c tic w ritin g s on race and class. in flu e n c e , m o re th an 3 ,0 0 0 p eo p le
H e e x te n d e d m an y o f the th e m e s a tte n d e d h is fu n e ra l last S a tu rd a y
an d id e a ls o f the 1960s B lack at N e w a rk S y m p h o n y H all.
P o w e r m o v e m e n t in to the realm o f
he a c to r D a n n y G lo v e r o ff ic i
a rt, w h ic h he saw as a p o te n t a ted an d n o ted B a ra k a ’s in flu e n c e
w e ap o n o f c h a n g e ; an d lik e m an y o n h is c a re e r. C o rn e l W est c a lle d
g o o d r e v o lu tio n a r y a r tis ts , he B a ra k a “a lite ra ry g e n iu s .” S o n ia
so m e tim e s w e n t o u t o f his w ay to S a n c h ez re a d a p o em fo r him w rit
o ffe n d th e s ta tu s quo. H e has been ten by M ay a A n g e lo u . S p e a k in g
at th e w ak e th e n ig h t b e fo re , Jesse c e n tly n o te d , “ A m iri B arak a w as O b a m a ’s] e le c tio n o n ly sh o w s the
J a c k s o n h o n o re d B a ra k a as “ a c o n tro v e rs ia l b e c a u se his w as a d ep th o f it.”
c re a tiv e a c tiv ist an d c h a n g e a g en t p e rs p e c tiv e th a t w as c o n sid e re d
A m iri B araka alw ays challenged
w h o n e v e r sto p p e d fig h tin g o r o u t o f fa sh io n d u rin g th is p o st us to face su ch u n c o m fo rta b le
w o rk in g fo r the fo rm u la to c re a te race g h o st d a n c e , th e a ttitu d e th at tru th s - an d w e are b e tte r b e c a u se
so cia l ju s tic e .”
say s th a t b e c a u se w e h av e a b la ck o f it.
B o rn E v e re tt L e R o i Jo n e s, the p re sid e n t, ra c ism is no lo n g e r an
M arc H. M orial is president
w rite r c h a n g e d his n am e to A m iri issu e , w h en th e a c rim o n io u s n e ar and c h ie f executive officer o f the
B a ra k a in 1968 to re fle c t h is e m p s y c h o tic re a c tio n to [B a ra c k N ational Urban League.
b ra c e o f Isla m an d th e p h ilo so p h y
o f M a lc o lm X . H e a tte n d e d
R u tg e rs, H o w ard an d C o lu m b ia ,
se rv e d in th e A ir F o rc e and b eg an
h is lite ra ry c a re e r in the 1950s in
the B eat p o et scen e o f N ew Y o rk ’s
G reen w ich V illage.
H is o n e -a c t p la y , “ D u tc h m a n ,”
w o n th e O b ie A w ard as th e b est
o ff-B ro ad w a y p ro d u ctio n o f 1964.
In 1965, h e c o -fo u n d e d th e B lack
A rts M o v e m e n t in H arlem , in fu s
in g th e B lack P o w e r m o v e m e n t
w ith p o w e rfu l a rtis tic v o ices. H is
n u m e ro u s a w a rd s an d h o n o rs in
c lu d e his s e le c tio n as the P oet
Portland:
(503) 244-2080
L a u re a te o f N ew J e rse y in 2 0 0 2
Hillsoboro:
(503) 244-2081
a n d his 1995 in d u c tio n in to th e
Facsimile:
(503) 244-2084
e x c lu s iv e A m e ric a n A c ad e m y o f
Email:
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
A rts an d L e tte rs.
C o n tro v e rs y w as a m a in sta y o f
A m iri B a ra k a ’s c a re e r. Ish m ael
R ee d , a n o th e r p ro v o c a tiv e p o et
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1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
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