19 students and two teachers and wounded 17 others .
Nevertheless , a gun safety law that President Joe Biden signed into law this summer more than doubles funding for school police and other school security upgrades , adding $ 300 million to the federal program that fueled the growth of law enforcement on campuses . The legislation also made more than $ 2 billion in grants available to districts looking to bolster or develop student mental health programs and efforts to improve their experiences in school .
School police are “ not adding the safety that people think they are ,” Losen said . “ It ’ s just not a solution to legitimate concerns about school shootings . Nobody is saying we shouldn ’ t be thinking about how kids should be safer . But the research shows that adding police isn ’ t that solution .”
The federal guidance suggests that schools re-examine their policies and procedures to avoid disability discrimination in interactions between students and law enforcement . Losen said he wished it would have more closely examined the way race and disability together impact discipline .
The Public Integrity analysis of federal data found that Black children in every state , and Latino and Native American children in some states , are disproportionately referred to law enforcement .
“ Usually kids of color , especially Black kids with disabilities , have [ discipline ] rates that are just shocking , shockingly high ,” Losen said . “ We have a major problem with racial discrimination among police in this country , and those same officers are in our schools in increasing numbers .”
This article was originally published in The Center for Public Integrity . Read the original article .
Most things we deal with in a school environment are not criminal . We have to learn to be better advocates . . . when students have special needs and disabilities , that requires a different level of care . ~ Mo Canady
66 Accessibilty for All To Table of Contents