Another New Orleans charter school FAIL
http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/collegiate_academies_-_splc_letter_of_support_for_students.pdf
We are writing in support of the Carver Prep and Carver Collegiate students who have bravely stepped forward to express concerns about their schools, and we urge you to meet with these students and discuss mutual solutions. Furthermore, we write to express apprehension about your staff’s responses to these students’ prior attempts to engage your staff in discussion, to which they have responded with constitutionally-suspect and punitive disciplinary measures. Most importantly, we write to express our concerns about the poor school climate and harsh disciplinary practices at Carver Prep and Carver Collegiate. It is clear that the current practices lack pedagogical value and run afoul of your own code of conduct. In line with the students’ concerns, we recommend improvements to Collegiate’sdisciplinary practices.
Research validates student concerns about school discipline practices. As you are likely aware, Collegiate Academies’ schools suspend the highest numbers of students of any school in New Orleans: specifically, state data for the 2012-13 school year show suspension rates of 58.5%, 68.8%, and 61.3% for Sci Academy, Carver Collegiate, and Carver Prep, respectively. As the leadership of
Collegiate Academies, you should be very concerned about these rates. Research shows that a reliance on out-of-school suspensions, to the exclusion of a lternative methods, simply has no educational benefit. (American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], “Out-of-School Suspensions & Expulsions,”Pediatrics, Vol. 131, No. 3 at 1005 (March 2013)):
