Wednesday, August 19, 2020

WBEZ: Vote Leaves Black Students Far More Likely To Have Police In School Than Other Teens

For a second we're going back to the latest in having Chicago Police in CPS schools. In the news a good number of schools have voted to have police taken out of the schools. However this WBEZ report is interesting:
After weeks of voting by elected school councils on whether to keep police in schools, only about 24% of 72 Chicago public schools with officers will be removed, leaving the vast majority of school police officers in place after a summer of intense protests advocating for their removal.

The Board of Education considered ending the school resource officer program in June, but the measure was narrowly defeated. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the schools chief and some board members said the decision should be left up to local councils, made up of parents, teachers and community members.
...
The result: The percentage of white and Latino students at schools with police officers will drop significantly in the coming school year. Now, about 48% of white students and 54% of Latino students at traditional city high schools will go to schools with police.

Meanwhile, about 73% of Black students will continue to be at schools with police. (The school district’s SRO program does not include charter schools.) Last school year, about 85% of students — regardless of race — went to a school with police officers.
After what happened at the end of May it's suspicious that this issues is getting attention. It's correct that schools should decide whether or not they should have police officers posted. It also should be up to school what other personnel needs to be at the schools for the students. 

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