between the state and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California requires state authorities to visit schools, interview teachers, look at individual students’ records and take more hands-on steps to see if a school has a pattern of discriminating. Specifically, the state will examine whether schools disproportionately suspend Black students or English learners, or deny services to students with disabilities.
“Now, instead of just looking at the data, we’ll be able to get to the crux of the issue,” said Malhar Shah, an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, who also worked on the suit. “There’s going to be increased accountability, and practices that went under the radar will now come out in the open.”. Black students are particularly affected. They had a suspension rate of almost 9% last year, compared to the state average of 3.6%.
Pittsburg Unified did not respond to an email request for comment. Its portion of the lawsuit is still pending. As a result, she was poorly equipped to handle middle school, Black said. The girl was suspended at least 20 times in sixth grade, and at one point the school had her involuntarily detained due to a perceived psychiatric emergency.
“It was a complete strain. I was getting calls nearly every day at work, and I didn’t know what to do,” said Black, who works as a community organizer in Oakland. “Psychologically, spiritually, mentally it really weighed on me. I was exhausted.”
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