STUDENT DEFENSE PROJECT ::
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the goals of the Student Defense Project?
The Student Defense Project will help improve the
educational outcomes of minority and low-income students
by:
- Ensuring that these children are afforded Due Process
in long-term suspension and exclusion hearings;
- Encouraging Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) to
explore a range of disciplinary options such as community
service and letters of apology, rather than suspensions,
alternative placements, or exclusions;
- Encouraging CMS to identify effective disciplinary
options that fit the stated offenses;
- Challenging the assumption that these students are
disposable and that this community does not care;
- Providing tangible, real-life role models from the
legal profession that are clear examples of the rewards
that result from responsible behavior and academic
success; and increasing the number of trained attorneys
who, through this endeavor, will enhance their skill
set and expertise to help create a community that places
a higher value on education; and
- Educating parents and the community on school discipline
rights by coordinating and facilitating workshops,
producing a parent handbook and program literature
on school discipline rights, disseminating information
to the community and media and hosting and participating
in town meetings or public forums.
What happens to children who are suspended or expelled?
Removal from school automatically terminates the
learning process and increases the likelihood that
a child will fall behind academically, drop out of
school, and/or participate in delinquent behavior.
What evidence is there for prejudicial suspension
and expulsion practices?
The high rate of suspension and expulsion of these
minority and low-income students raises concerns regarding
their constitutional right to a sound and basic education.
On a national level, African-American students are
2.6 times as likely to be suspended as white students.
In North Carolina, while black and multiracial students
represent slightly less than a third of the state’s
public school enrollment, these students accounted
for approximately 60% of all suspensions in the 2002-2003
school year. This trend is even more alarming within
Charlotte-Mecklenburg. CMS suspends black students
four times as often as white students. Interestingly
enough, although CMS’s high scoring/ low-poverty
suburban high schools reported some of 2004’s
highest rates of school violence and crime, the students
more likely to be excluded were those at high-poverty
middle and high schools. Most repeat suspensions were
for “general disruptive behavior”, including
subjective acts such as horse play and “rude
noises”.
What is the history of the Student Defense Project?
The Council for Children’s Rights’ Student
Defense Project emerges from a two-year process begun
by the Harvard University Civil Rights Project to address
a myriad of civil rights concerns regarding K-12 public
education. Following an analysis of several United
States cities, the Project selected Charlotte as one
of the cities experiencing both educational upheaval
and community activism related to civil rights issues
in primary education. One of the most critical issues
identified as a civil rights concern was the disproportionate
long-term suspension and expulsion rates impacting
minority and low-income children in Charlotte.
In September 2005, the Council for Children’s
Rights decided to host and implement a volunteer-lawyer
program for children facing long-term suspensions and
expulsions.
Since 2004, a coalition of attorneys and civic organizations
has worked diligently to frame the Student Defense
Project. A large number of attorneys have pledged to
participate in the process and have already exhibited
their dedication by working diligently. We have established
collaborative relationships with several community
partners including the John S. Leary Bar Group, The
Children’s Law Center, the Civil Rights Project
at Harvard University, NAACP—Charlotte Chapter,
the AME Zion Church, the Greenville Memorial AME Zion
Church, Legal Aid of North Carolina, and Ferguson,
Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter, P.A. (a local
law firm focusing on civil rights law). |
