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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Announces Speakers for Briefing on School Discipline and Disparate Impact

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Commission on Civil Rights has announced speakers for its February 11th briefing on the Department of Education's disparate impact initiative, an initiative which reportedly consists of compliance reviews of many school districts whose disciplinary actions have resulted in different discipline rates between major racial or ethnic groups. Such disparate impact analysis would not require a finding of intentional racial discrimination, but would instead use numerical data showing disparities in discipline rates as a basis for enforcement actions against school districts.

In addition to classroom teachers from the larger metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, speakers will include the principal of T.C. Williams in Fairfax County VA, an assistant principal of East Lake High School in the Tampa Bay area (Pinellas County FL), the former director of all alternative schools in Austin (Travis County TX) that receives all suspended or expelled students from the 80,000 plus student district, the associate superintendent of Fresno County CA schools in charge of prevention and intervention, and the superintendents of school districts in Evanston/Skokie (Cook County IL), Blanding (San Juan County UT), and Rochester (Olmstead County MN).

The Commission's briefing will ask teachers and administrators of these racially diverse public school districts to discuss their schools' discipline policies, and comment on how they have responded to the Department of Education's new policy. The briefing is open to the public without advance reservation.

Briefing on School Discipline and Disparate Impact

Friday, February 11, 2011

9:30 AM Eastern Time

5th floor conference room

624 9th St., NW

Washington, DC 20425

Persons with a disability requiring special services, such as an interpreter for the hearing impaired, should contact Pamela Dunston immediately at 202-376-8105. TDD: (202) 376-8116.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with monitoring federal civil rights enforcement. Commission meetings are open to the general public. The Commission's website is http://www.usccr.gov.

CONTACT: Lenore Ostrowsky, Acting Chief, Public Affairs Unit, +1-202-376-8591

SOURCE U.S. Commission on Civil Rights