We appreciate Mr. Harold Jordan taking time out of his schedule to do this interview with Equal Opportunities for Students. His expertise was shown in the Food for Thought series.
You can find his interview here.
He brought up two very important points that should be elaborated on. First, many states, districts, and individual schools utilize resources officers as a typical method of punishing students. Exclusionary punishments been shown to have a negative affect on students’ academic performance, and future behavior. When students are removed from the classroom, they fall further behind, and it becomes harder for them to catch up with the rest of the class. Not only that, but exclusionary punishment and punishment by resource officers is disproportionately used on Black and Latino students, as well as students with disabilities. The disproportionate use of exclusionary punishment on these demographics contributes to the achievement gap.
It is also important to note that while these civil rights are currently codified in law, they must be actively sought out and advocated for, in order to receive the benefit from them. If you think your rights in education are being violated, contact the Office for Civil Rights, or advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union to see what your options are.