The Advancement Project and the Alliance for Educational Justice want police out of schools, according to their new report.
The advocacy groups believe school police officers create a hostile environment for Black and Brown students and contribute to the trauma many experience outside of school.
Philadelphia was among the cities featured in the report, but the idea of removing school police for some city parents is just unthinkable.
Terri Seward, whose daughter attends Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia, isn’t buying the argument that school police create a prison-like atmosphere. She said those officers are a necessity.
“It’s a little bit comforting to me to see [the] presence of police here,” she said. “I would want to see them here. And that’s because of the environment that we live in. Unfortunately, that’s where we are.”
Robin Roberts, an active parent at Carver Engineering and Science, agreed with the report findings that school police officers can present a false sense of security while criminalizing students.
She said keeping the peace in schools has a different meaning for some students.
“That is something we hear in the Black and Brown community all the time, keep the peace,” she said. “But what it really means is we keep people in their places.”
Over the years, however, the district has worked to address such concerns.
To read the full article by Darryl C Murphy, click here.
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