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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:48 am
Time: 11:48 am
Results for student misbehavior
1 results foundAuthor: Knaack, Frank Title: Use of Force in Texas Public Schools: The Case for Transparency, Accountability and Decriminalization Summary: A surprising number of Texas school districts have turned responsibility for what used to be routine student discipline over to law enforcement. As a result, many students receive a criminal record instead of a trip to the principal’s office for engaging in childish misbehavior. This trend is detrimental to Texas schoolchildren, their families and communities, and ultimately, to Texas’ economic well-being. The presence of law enforcement officials, commonly known as school resource officers (SROs), in Texas’ public schools has significantly expanded since the late 1990s. Today in Texas, there are 178 independent school districts (ISDs) that employ their own police departments. Unfortunately, no statewide guidelines exist to govern the mission of SROs, nor does any statewide entity have responsibility for oversight over SROs in Texas public schools. Each individual ISD creates its own governing policies, resulting in an inconsistent patchwork across the state. While some districts have formulated policies that help ensure a safe and positive educational environment, others have adopted policies that are counterproductive to public schools’ core mission: providing the best possible education for students. In the absence of statewide legislative guidance, a number of school districts have encouraged their SROs to take on a dual law enforcement and disciplinary enforcement role. In many school districts, the negative impact of this blending of responsibilities is exacerbated by the blurring of the distinction between criminal acts and childish or adolescent misbehavior. Behavior once subject to school discipline, such as using profanity in class, is now subject to criminal sanction. To make matters worse, despite the obvious differences between apprehending adults in the street and ensuring the safety of children in a school, SROs are currently only required to receive the same basic training that municipal law enforcement personnel receive. Moreover, law enforcement departments operating in schools are not required to provide use of force data to the state. The lack of this basic transparency and accountability mechanism results in an inability of parents, school officials, legislators and other stakeholders to ensure that SROs are acting within their local guidelines. Increased criminalization of childish misbehavior and the failure to require relevant training requirements, coupled with the lack of institutional transparency and accountability in the context of school discipline, leads to escalating consequences for minor conduct infractions. This phenomenon is problematic on multiple levels. First, criminalization of student conduct increases the likelihood of confrontations between children and SROs during which physical force may be deployed. Second, criminalizing non-criminal behavior of schoolchildren introduces affected children into the Texas criminal justice system, which negatively impacts their ability to obtain employment or gain admission to college. Finally, the creation of an adversarial environment “pushes students, particularly at-risk students, out of school rather than engaging them in a positive educational environment.” To address this dangerous and unproductive trend, the Texas Legislature must amend the Texas Education Code to define the mission and role of on-campus law enforcement, and establish a statewide policy governing the use of force by SROs with mandated basic reporting and training requirements. Specifically, the Texas Legislature must ensure that if SROs are deployed, they are provided with a clearly defined mission and the tools necessary to carry out that mission. In addition, the Texas Education Code must be amended to ensure that childish misbehavior is not regarded as a criminal act. Adoption of these recommendations will positively impact not just student safety and education, but will also strengthen Texas’ economic well-being, as a student's disciplinary history is a major indicator in determining the likelihood of student dropout. Texas’ student dropout rate is a scourge on our state’s economic profile. As a recent study issued by the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service estimated, “[t]he total of the predicted cost [to Texas] of dropouts from the cohort of the senior class of 2012 is between $6 billion and $10.7 billion” over their lifetimes. This report is intended to provide the context necessary to accurately access the real world implications of current Texas law vis-à-vis law enforcement and discipline in Texas public schools. In addition, this report provides recommendations focused on ensuring a safe and positive school environment. In doing so, Section II will look at SROs in Texas ISDs, including a history of SROs and the sources of authority. Section III examines the increased negative interactions between SROs and Texas public schoolchildren. Section IV will discuss use of force policies in Texas school districts, including the use of force continuum, reporting requirements, training requirements, and the Public Information Act exemption that permits law enforcement agencies to withhold their use of force policies. Finally, Section V concludes with ACLU of Texas’ legislative recommendations. Details: Austin, TX: American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, 2011. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 7, 2011 at: http://www.aclutx.org/reports/2011UseofForce.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclutx.org/reports/2011UseofForce.pdf Shelf Number: 121264 Keywords: School CrimeSchool DisciplineSchool Resource Officers (Texas)School SafetyStudent Misbehavior |