School Discipline Reform Groups Question Proposals for Armed Security

Initiatives emerging from shootings may conflict with efforts to reduce police involvement in school discipline

As the White House considers proposals to allocate federal money for armed guards in schools, prominent school-discipline reform groups have issued a report denouncing the idea as a misguided reaction to the Newtown school shooting. “Placing more police in schools has significant and harmful unintended consequences for young people that must be considered before agreeing to any proposal that would increase the presence of law enforcement in schools,”says an issue brief released Friday by the Advancement Project, Dignity in Schools and other organizations. The Advancement Project, founded in 1999, has offices in Washington D.C. and California, and has worked with school districts and states to adopt alternatives to school suspensions and expulsions. Dignity in Schools is also devoted to working with school districts, advocating fewer school suspensions and less involvement of law enforcement in school discipline. The groups called on the White House and Congress, before they act, to consider how the school-discipline climate changed after more police were introduced to schools in response to the Columbine school shootings nearly 15 years ago in Colorado.

Trayvon Martin Rally Atlanta March 26 2012. Clay Duda/JJIE

Zimmerman Charged with Second-Degree Murder in Shooting Death of Trayvon Martin

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin in February, turned himself into authorities late yesterday after prosecutors announced he would face second-degree murder charges in a case that has sparked protests around the nation. The announcement by state prosecutors came 46 days after local Sanford law enforcement decided not to charge Zimmerman in the shooting, citing Florida’s “stand your ground law.”

His attorney, Mark O’Mara, said Zimmerman would plead not guilty to the charge, the Washington Post reported. If convicted, Zimmerman could face a maximum sentence of life in prison under Florida law. Martin’s parents applauded the arrest. “We wanted nothing more, nothing less, we just wanted an arrest – and we got it,” Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, said at a press conference on Wednesday.