Activity 2A: From Federal to Local
Read the press release and view the video of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement of the city’s Impact Schools Initiative during his press conference on January 5, 2004.
Link not working yet: Use link above: http://quicktime.edc.org/ltd/pcc/laj/NYC_MayorBloomberg_PressConf.mp4
Activity 2C: Discretion or Zero Tolerance?
Controversial Zero Tolerance Outcomes
The mission of the Advancement Project, founded in 1999 by civil rights lawyers, is to advance “universal opportunity and a just democracy for those left behind in America.” See pages 13–25 of its March 2010 publication “Test, Punish, and Push Out: How ‘Zero Tolerance’ and High-Stakes Testing Funnel Youth into the School to Prison Pipeline.” www.advancementproject.org/sites/default/files/publications/rev_fin.pdf, http://lawandjustice.edc.org/sites/lawandjustice.edc.org/files/Test-Punish-Push-Out.pdf
The advocacy organization Padres & Jovenes Unidos describes several cases of the “overuse of zero tolerance.” A summary of the problems, stories from the field, and links to statistical data are provided by the group as a rationale for its legislative campaign. http://www.padresunidos.org/ending-school-jail-legislative-campaign
George A. Clowes summarizes unfair cases of zero tolerance policies in “13 Zero Tolerance Horror Stories.” His article appeared in Opeds in June 2003, published by The Heartland Institute. www.heartland.org/policybot/results/12352/13_Zero_Tolerance_Horror_Stories.html
In “Losing My Tolerance for Zero Tolerance,” Randy Cassingham expresses his outrage at three boys being suspended for playing with water guns, a six year old suspended for giving another child a cough drop, and other examples of zero tolerance in action. See his This Is True Since 1994 online column. www.thisistrue.com/zt.html