Giving Compass' Take:

· Kay Coles James discusses former President Obama's school discipline policy and explains the negative effects it has had on school safety and violence. According to James, students are put at a higher risk in schools with this policy due to lack of action taken against bullies and those who cause trouble for others.

· What can schools do to protest this policy and advocate for reform? What new policy can replace it to promote racial equity in the classroom but ensure safety for all students?

· Read more about the Obama era school discipline policies and school violence. 

I’m sure President Obama’s heart was in the right place.

A few years ago, his Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, studied school discipline data and came to a troubling conclusion: African American students in the 2011-12 school year had been suspended or expelled at a rate three times higher than White students.

This news sent shock waves throughout the community and government. Here were already concerns of a “school-to-prison pipeline” that funneled disadvantaged children to jail. Now, there was renewed agreement that things had to change.

And so, in 2014, the Departments of Education and Justice put public schools on notice. If they suspended or expelled students of any racial group more than any other, they could face a federal investigation. In place of discipline to punish bad behavior, they were urged to use positive reinforcement instead.

As the grandmother of five school-age kids, I watched this closely. And as one of the Black students who integrated an all-White Richmond, Va., school in 1961, I was hopeful.

I hoped this policy would lead to safer schools. I prayed it would help students get a better education. And I felt confident it would open the door to a brighter future for our kids.

But like so many other parents and grandparents, I was wrong.

Read the full article about school discipline by Kay Coles James at The Heritage Foundation.