May 8th, 2008
Posted by Nicole Kief, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 4:46pm	Racial Justice

Be Here, Behave, Be Learning -- Be Sued

Lawsuits certainly have a knack for bringing people-and information-out of the woodworks.

In March, the ACLU Racial Justice Program and ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the Atlanta Independent School System (AISS) and Community Education Partners (CEP), the for-profit company contracted since 2002 to run AISS's disciplinary alternative school to the tune of almost $7 million a year. The lawsuit accuses the school-whose motto, if you can believe it, is 'Be Here, Behave, Be Learning'-of violating students' constitutional rights to an adequate public education, to be free from unreasonable searches, and to due process when referred to and disciplined at the school. Just some of the fun facts in the case include students being subject to pat-down searches on a daily basis, a prohibition on bringing anything into or out of the school (including keys, combs, pencils, paper, tampons and books), a no homework policy, and a police officer who slammed an innocent student's head into the wall hard enough that his mother-who was not notified of the incident by the school-had to take him to the hospital.

The AISS-CEP school is yet another example of the school-to-prison pipeline, a national phenomenon that funnels youth of color out of classrooms and into prisons (or prison-like schools) by treating them as dangerous criminals in need of containment rather than students worthy of instruction. The school is also, as a new article by Creative Loafing (Atlanta's alternative weekly) explains, a product of Republican educational policy, which has favored discipline, privatization, and test-based accountability. CEP's success, the article suggests, is due not to its capacity to educate youth, but to its ability to use its political ties to win contracts from Texas to Florida to Philadelphia. It should come as no surprise, then, that CEP's contract in Atlanta was renewed until 2009 shortly after CEP leadership made campaign contributions to four individuals running for the Atlanta Board of Education.

Since the ACLU filed its lawsuit, CEP's failure to educate students has become a hot topic, and people familiar with the school-from parents to former administrators-have begun to speak out. In addition to the Creative Loafing story, the Atlanta Journal Constitution has published three articles (available here, here and here), NPR covered the issue, the Atlanta Voice and Atlanta Progressive News both ran stories, and a post appeared on Daily Kos. Let's hope the media spotlight continues to show who is truly misbehaving.

Permalink |	Racial Justice

1. Paris Texas Says:
   May 24th, 2008 at 9:29am

   I live in Paris Texas and one of the worst cases of school to prison pipeline happened with the ShaQuanda Cotton case. I don't understand how a child with no criminal record can be taken from her mother and placed in prison because her mother filed too many complaints. I don't understand how school write-ups which are one sided can be used in court as a prior criminal record with the one writing the child up not even be required to come to court. The ShaQuanda Cotton case was nothing but child abuse inflicted by Paris Independent School District who were angry with the fact that ShaQuandas mother had filed complaints against them.

2. bob a. booey Says:
   May 26th, 2008 at 10:49pm

   When I was in school I remember those who had to go to "alternative" school. I thank my school district for sending them away to well - anywhere else. This way I could recieve a decent education without having my freedoms stepped upon.
   ENOUGH with CRIMINAL RIGHTS - prison pipeline sounds like a good plan.

3. Maynard Eaton Says:
   Jun 9th, 2008 at 3:30pm

   Response to May 8 ACLU Blog Posting Entitled Be Here,
   Behave, Be Learning, Be Sued

   By Maynard Eaton

   The ACLU, a liberal legal activist group I’ve often applauded in the past, got it wrong this time. The rights of students to be safe and teachers to teach without interruption are the rights being ignored by the ACLU in their lawsuit against Atlanta Public Schools and CEP. With 25,831 student incidences and a 68.8% graduation rate, we should be concerned about the rights of all Atlanta students to an education and the rights of parents who expect their child to be safe and educated in a positive learning environment when they leave for school each day.

   In the past I have been a critic of CEP’s Atlanta school without having reviewed the program. I am an EMMY award winning journalist and political editor who has written nine stories about CEP over the past several years. I put the CEP controversy in Atlanta on the front page, which has given rise to other stories by local and national publications.

   But now that I have had a chance to probe the program in action, visit with students, talk to parents, listen to community organizations, interview CEP officials involved in the school and review results attained for some of our lowest achieving students, I have an appreciation for the positive impact the program provides for our most at-risk students. My due diligence satisfied me, a frequent critic of the program. The ACLU may be remiss by not conducting the same rigorous due diligence. I wonder why.

   The ACLU could have easily determined that some of their most inflammatory allegations are arguably incorrect. “Not a single child at the school made it to their (sic) senior year in 2006” was alleged by the ACLU. Seniors are not referred to CEP by the APS and 11th grade students return to the district on completion of their referral. The ACLU claims that “Girls are not even permitted to bring tampons into the building.” CEP’s school nurse provides all personal health products needed by students free of charge. Backpacks and purses are not allowed in order to keep weapons, drugs and other contraband out of the school. CEP provides a safe environment that all Atlanta parents and students should expect in every school. The ACLU also charged that “20% of all reported incidences of gun possessions in the district were at CEP.”

   There were no gun possessions at the CEP, as I could confirm. Two students brought BB guns to the school, both of which were confiscated during the entry screening process. All of these allegations could have easily been disproved by simply asking, confronting, challenging CEP leadership.

   The ACLU has a storied, and some say a stellar history, but I now suggest there may have been a rush to judgment on CEP because I doubt they set the facts straight prior to scurrilous Press Releases and lawsuits being filed.

   The right of a safe school with a good learning environment is available to thousands of Atlanta students because of the CEP school, though they are far from perfect. At the same time students like the eight plaintiffs have an opportunity to get back on track to a better future. It may be their last chance and it can be a win/win for our schools, these students and our community. What’s a better alternative?

4. Maynard Eaton says Says:
   Jun 9th, 2008 at 3:34pm

   Response to May 8 ACLU Blog Posting Entitled Be Here,
   Behave, Be Learning, Be Sued

   By Maynard Eaton

   The ACLU, a liberal legal activist group I’ve often applauded in the past, got it wrong this time. The rights of students to be safe and teachers to teach without interruption are the rights being ignored by the ACLU in their lawsuit against Atlanta Public Schools and CEP. With 25,831 student incidences and a 68.8% graduation rate, we should be concerned about the rights of all Atlanta students to an education and the rights of parents who expect their child to be safe and educated in a positive learning environment when they leave for school each day.

   In the past I have been a critic of CEP’s Atlanta school without having reviewed the program. I am an EMMY award winning journalist and political editor who has written nine stories about CEP over the past several years. I put the CEP controversy in Atlanta on the front page, which has given rise to other stories by local and national publications.

   But now that I have had a chance to probe the program in action, visit with students, talk to parents, listen to community organizations, interview CEP officials involved in the school and review results attained for some of our lowest achieving students, I have an appreciation for the positive impact the program provides for our most at-risk students. My due diligence satisfied me, a frequent critic of the program. The ACLU may be remiss by not conducting the same rigorous due diligence. I wonder why.

   The ACLU could have easily determined that some of their most inflammatory allegations are arguably incorrect. “Not a single child at the school made it to their (sic) senior year in 2006” was alleged by the ACLU. Seniors are not referred to CEP by the APS and 11th grade students return to the district on completion of their referral. The ACLU claims that “Girls are not even permitted to bring tampons into the building.” CEP’s school nurse provides all personal health products needed by students free of charge. Backpacks and purses are not allowed in order to keep weapons, drugs and other contraband out of the school. CEP provides a safe environment that all Atlanta parents and students should expect in every school. The ACLU also charged that “20% of all reported incidences of gun possessions in the district were at CEP.”

   There were no gun possessions at the CEP, as I could confirm. Two students brought BB guns to the school, both of which were confiscated during the entry screening process. All of these allegations could have easily been disproved by simply asking, confronting, challenging CEP leadership.

   The ACLU has a storied, and some say a stellar history, but I now suggest there may have been a rush to judgment on CEP because I doubt they set the facts straight prior to scurrilous Press Releases and lawsuits being filed.

   The right of a safe school with a good learning environment is available to thousands of Atlanta students because of the CEP school, though they are far from perfect. At the same time students like the eight plaintiffs have an opportunity to get back on track to a better future. It may be their last chance and it can be a win/win for our schools, these students and our community. What’s a better alternative?

5. michael Says:
   Jun 26th, 2008 at 3:16pm

   What about the rights of the children that are there to learn in a nonthreatening environment that are usually terrorized by the student susually placed in these 'special assignment centers'? I work as an educator, and I cannot began to tell you about all the times that children white or black, where a disruption to the class room, and simple slaps on the wrist did not affect or faze them. Why is no one fighting for the rights of the other students to get an education?

   Why are we denying access to education to the masses to protect the rights of thse that have proven a disruption in the classroom?

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