Giving Compass' Take:

· According to Chalkbeat, a Newark charter school has been reprimanded and forced to change policy after turning away dozens of students on the first day of school for minor uniform infractions.

· How do school uniforms affect the learning environment? Do they address equality in any way? 

· Read more about Newark charter schools and their impact.

A Newark charter high school faced a storm of online outrage this week after it forced dozens of students onto the street on the first day of class due to minor uniform infractions, such as lacking belts or wearing shoes with white soles instead of black.

After the students were sent out of Marion P. Thomas Charter Schoolon Monday, a community activist found them idling at a nearby park. He then confronted school staffers about the incident; videos of the confrontation that were posted online have been viewed more than 560,000 times and generated hundreds of angry comments.

“Why would you kick a child 13 or 14 years old out into the streets?” said Thomas “Afrika” Ibiang, the activist who confronted the officials, in an interview Friday. “It makes no sense unless you see those people as less than.”

Founded in 1999 by Newark’s historic New Hope Baptist Church, Marion P. Thomas now enrolls about 1,600 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. With a student population that is 94 percent black and 6 percent Hispanic, the school describes itself as “the largest minority led, independently operated free public charter school in New Jersey.”

Read the full article about uniform infractions by Patrick Wall at Chalkbeat.