Federal officials investigate discipline practices at Anne Arundel schools - The Washington Post: Federal officials are investigating racial disparities in school discipline in Anne Arundel County, where the issue has been a longtime concern for African American leaders.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will probe allegations made in a complaint filed by the Anne Arundel branch of the NAACP that African American students are treated unequally in school discipline referrals and suspensions.
The NAACP raised similar issues in a 2004 federal complaint, which led to an improvement plan that addressed academics and discipline in the 76,000-student district. But little progress has been made on discipline, the 2011 complaint says, and in some cases discipline actions involving African Americans have increased.
Jacqueline Boone Allsup, president of the Anne Arundel branch, said she hopes the new federal action, described in a March 29 letter, will produce concrete changes.
