Phila School District forbids teachers from calling school police until AFTER someone is stabbed [View all]

[JPZenger]

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/66215-philly-district-orders-school-police-to-stay-out-of-level-1-offenses?linktype=hp_impact

The US Dept of Justice has recently been threatening many public schools for disciplining minority students at a higher rate than non-minority students. Some school systems are over-reacting as a result, and cutting back on discipline and suspensions.

The Phila. School District has issued orders that the police officers serving inside public schools are not allowed to become involved in most types of disciplinary situations. The teachers have said that the appearance of a well-trained police officer often can resolve a situation before it results in violence. The teachers also say that the lay offs of most of the guidance counselors and some assistant principals and many aides because of state budget cuts have left them with few other alternatives to deal with problem students.

Meanwhile, this week, a teacher serving as a "conflict resolution specialist" in Philadelphia's Bartram High School was just knocked unconscious, with a fractured skull, by a student inside the school.

Excerpt:

"It is easy...to say that someone else should deal with it. There is no 'someone else,'" said Amy Roat, member of the caucus' steering committee, and teacher at Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences.

"We don't have anyone in our building most of the time that is 'qualified' to deal with these issues," she said. "We all just have to jump in and deal with it." Feltonville shares one school counselor with another school. Between the two, the counselor is responsible for 1,300 students.

In Roat's experience, the school police officer doesn't spark violent incidents, but often helps to de-escalate and pre-empt them. "Our school police officer is throwing cold water on everything. His appearance and his presence is very calming for everybody," she said.

At the same time, many parents have been pulling their kids out of public schools and moving them to very mediocre charter schools simply because the charter schools typically have fewer violent and disruptive students.