A forum on stopping the "School to Prison" pipeline

20191026_134531

October, 26, 2019, Las Vegas, NVIn a small community room at the Doolittle Community Center in West Las Vegas, more than 100 school advocates, community leaders, parents, and a students participated in a program, "How We Educate Students and Stop Arrests."They gathered to discuss the problem of  black students being "pushed out" of schools through suspensions or expulsions.Hosted by HEROS Advocacy Group, the gathering was part of the National Week of Action Against School Pushout that ended October 26.Twenty states, as part of the "Dignity in Schools" initiative, hosted local rallies, teach-ins, forums, and marches to "take a stand against punitive zero-tolerance discipline  policies and calling for an end to of the regular presence of police officers in schools."Forum speakers included:Moderator Khulia Pringle, Standing Together and Never Divided UP (S.T.A.N.D. UP, St. Paul, MN);Azia Brown, youth representative;Lady AK, on-air personality for Power 88.1 FM's "The Breakdown" and founder of AK's ClosetMonique McCoy, licensed social worker, child and family therapist, and clinical trauma specialist; Semaj White, community advocate and founder of HEROS Advocacy Group; andEnder Hope Austin III, youth pastor at Bethesda Church, Man of Alpha Phi Alpha, mentor and community advocate.Despite the stated topic, "how to stop arrests," panelists focused on how black children are more likely to be perceived by teachers and school administrators as candidates for suspension or expulsion for minor infractions, such as talking back, missing a class, or wearing sagging jeans.McCoy said that "schools should look at what's behind (a student's) behavior (and) should be places where students learn to navigate the world, not prisons.""Black students get suspensions while other student's get a call to their parent," noted Austin III. The second approach, he said, encourages parents and schools to work together to help a youngster, but this seldom occurs for black students.White interrupted the discussion to report that he had just received some stats via text about suspensions and expulsions in the Clark County School District (CCSD) to-date.According to White's source, since CCSD schools opened in August, there have been 31,000 suspensions and 1,800 expulsions. There was a collective groan of disapproval.Lady AK emphasized that more parents should be involved in what's going within schools and willing to take action when confronted with racial disparities in school policies or practices.One woman stood up to protest Lady AK's statements, which she perceived as blaming parents, pointing out that racism exists in many institutions in America.Lady AK responded by saying that she didn't disagree but insisted, "This room should be packed with community instead I see the same people who show up for events, to vote or to volunteer."