Missing Out: Suspending Students from Connecticut Schools

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Greater New Haven Branch, NAACP

Lisa Monroe, Chairperson

MISSION

The Greater New Haven NAACP Education Committee is dedicated to the belief that all of our children deserve the best educational experience possible and that they all can achieve academic excellence. Since January 2008, the Education committee has worked to promote an expectation of academic excellence for all students, to build cooperative alliances, and to identify and eliminate educational policies or practices that hinder our children�s academic success.

NAACP EDUCATION GOAL

The overall goal of the NAACP National Education Department is to ensure that all students have access to an equal and high-quality public education by eliminating all education related racial and ethnic disparities. Through advocacy training, policy development and guidance, building collaborative networks, and direct action, the National Education Department works to accomplish this goal with assistance from NAACP regional directors, state and local education committee chairs as well as our Partners in Education.

COMMUNICATIONS

Blog: �Zero tolerance for zero-tolerance biases� � November 2008

https://devotionreader.blogspot.com/2008/12/zero-tolerance-for-zero-tolerance.html

Blog: �School Days: Obama and McCain discuss education at the NAACP National Convention 2008� - July 2008

https://devotionreader.blogspot.com/2008/12/school-days-obama-and-mccain-at-naacp.html

INITIATIVES: �

Greater New Haven Branch NAACP SCHOLARSHIPS: Each year, the Branch issues monetary scholarships and book awards to graduating high school students enrolled in public school districts throughout Greater New Haven. Awards are presented at the Annual Freedom Fund Dinner held mid-year. Parents and high school seniors should inquire about applications at their high school guidance office. For information, contact Lisa Monroe at ctnaacpedu@gmail.com.

Back to School Rally � The education committee distributed more than 125 study skills workbooks and school supplies to students during the Tom Joyner � New Haven Public Schools Back-to-School rally in August 2008.

REPORTS

Missing Out: Suspending Students from Connecticut Schools

Taby Ali and Alexandra Dufresne, J.D.

Issued by Connecticut Voices for Children, August 2008

This study of the use of out-of-school suspensions to discipline K-12 students suggests that out-of-school suspensions may be overused and counterproductive.�

(based on CT data from 2006-2007 school year)

https://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/edu08missingout.pdf (337.61K)

Dignity Denied: The Effect of "Zero Tolerance" Policies on Students' Human Rights

A Case Study of New Haven Connecticut Public Schools

Issued by the American Civil Liberties Union, November 2008

ACLU of CT, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School

This report examines how the involvement of the criminal justice system in school

discipline policies and practices causes deprivations of human rights for children in four key areas: the right to be free from discrimination, the right to education, the right to proportionality in punishment, and the right to freedom of expression.

(Study conducted during the 2006-2007 school year)

https://www.aclu.org/pdfs/humanrights/dignitydenied_november2008.pdf

Given Half a Chance: The Schott Fifty State Report on Public Education and Black Males

Issued July 2008

This website is a data portal that provides parents, educators, media, policymakers, elected officials�and anyone who cares about education and equity�direct access to important, alarming data on the devastating reality of education for Black males across all 50 states.

https://blackboysreport.org