Make America’s Schools Great Again

Annette Albright, a woman few have heard of before tonight (myself included), took the stage on the closing night of the Republican National Committee’s convention and connected two dots that not enough Americans are correlating: public schools and the criminal justice system. Last year was my first year in a Title I tuition-free charter school in Tampa, Florida, and I saw and endured things that were equally appalling and understandable. If you want to see criminal justice reform in our country, we must start with our schools.

The Obama-Biden administration pressured public schools to dramatically stem the number of suspensions and expulsions, particularly as they related to students of color and students with disabilities. As a direct result, dangerous students remained in the classroom and understood quickly they would not be held accountable in any real way for their behavior. Moreover, their peers saw the behavior being excused and were inspired and/or empowered to act out. The results of this approach are still being felt a decade later with out-of-control students and administrators who were set up to fail.

The Trump administration rolled back many of these Obama-era policies starting in 2018. But the Biden administration appears ready to reimplement them and may even go further. President Biden nominated Catherine Lhamon to head the [Office of Civil Rights], the same position she held in the Obama administration, where she spearheaded the initiative to insert the federal government into school discipline policy. Lhamon has telegraphed her intentions for her second tenure in the position, saying, “I’m deeply worried about the kinds of discrimination that may be allowed to proliferate if there’s not an effective and meaningful civil rights backstop.” -RealClearEducation, October 18, 2021 […]

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