News & Commentary

For years, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has pulled middle and high school students out of class to conduct daily, metal detector searches. As numerous students have shared, school administrators walk into a classroom and pick out students at will, wand their bodies, and rummage through their belongings. Aside from losing valuable learning time, students undergo this humiliating procedure even if they have done nothing wrong.

Children who have not committed a crime should never be treated like criminals. But that’s exactly what’s happening today in the schools in Riverside County, California.

Last week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra provided all California public school leaders with the policies they must adopt by July to protect students from immigration enforcement while at school. 

Students deserve to attend supportive and well-resourced schools, where they feel safe. And, as students across the country are calling for common sense gun control, the Trump administration has instead proposed to “harden” schools by increasing the numbers of armed police in schools and by arming teachers and school staff. These proposals, while cloaked in the language of “school safety,” are most likely to hasten the process of transforming schools into something more akin to penal institutions while increasing the risk to students.

Define "defiance." I've posed this statement to school administrators across the country after they've used it to kick students out of school. Some for dancing, breaking the dress code, or not paying attention. I myself had this experience. One of my earliest school memories was of being deprived

Last week, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos confirmed what we have long suspected: she and President Trump are prioritizing private education at the expense of an equitable K-12 public education for all. 

Back in the day, a student who broke school rules or otherwise misbehaved would be reprimanded by a teacher or sent to the principal’s office. But today, school administrators are increasingly relying on law enforcement to keep students in line, and the results can be dire.

By Jessica Cobb

By Lida Dianti