All students deserve safe and welcoming schools that do not use harmful discipline and school police to punish young people.
To achieve this, schools must be able to invest in the people and programs that build strong campus climates and foster the relationships that keep everyone safe.
IDRA works to make sure schools do not push students out of the classroom through school policing and exclusionary discipline, like suspensions, alternative school placements, expulsions and corporal punishment. These approaches do not work. They limit student success, are costly and disproportionately harm Black students, Latino students, students with disabilities and LGBTQ students. Instead of pushing young people out, schools must invest in strategies to pull them in.
Using Effective Strategies to Create Safe and Welcoming Schools for All Students
Safe and welcoming schools are community-oriented, with families, school staff and students taking a leadership role in shaping educational policy and practice. They are well-staffed with trained counselors, social workers, nurses and other critical personnel.
IDRA trains and supports families, teachers, students and district leaders, focusing on research-based strategies and programs like restorative practices, culturally sustaining pedagogy and ethnic studies courses.
Resources
Changing Policy
Testimony: Security Cannot Be Achieved Through Discipline – IDRA Testimony On HB 268, Submitted by Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., to the Georgia House Education Subcommittee on Policy, February 13, 2025
ACLU-TX 51 School Districts Remain in Violation of CROWN Act, July 24, 2024
Acting on Research and Data
Policy Brief: Discipline is Not Security – Dismantling Disparities Should be Top of Mind When Developing School Safety Policy in Georgia, by Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., February 2025
IDRA Data Map: Discipline Disparity in Georgia Schools
Issue Brief: Identity-based Bullying in Texas Schools – Policy Recommendations – IDRA Issue Brief, by Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., & Makiah Lyons, April 2023
Issue Brief: Hitting Hurts – The Case for Ending Corporal Punishment in Texas – IDRA Issue Brief, by Morgan Craven, J.D., April 2023
U.S. States Where Corporal Punishment is Allowed – IDRA Map
Corporal Punishment in Texas Public School Districts – IDRA Map
Eradicating the School-to-Prison Pipeline through a Comprehensive Approach to School Equity, by Morgan Craven, Paula Johnson & Terrence Wilson, Arkansas Law Review
E-book: School Discipline Policy and Practice Resources
Study: Zero Tolerance Discipline Contributes to Higher Attrition Rates
Engaging Communities
ACLU-Texas sent 51 letters co-signed by IDRA and others to the superintendents of the school districts still in potential violation of the CROWN Act. By the next day one school district had already committed to updating their dress code for the next school year, July 25, 2024
Joint Letter to Pasco County Superintendent of Schools, Re: Data-Sharing Agreement and School Resource Officer Memorandum of Understanding Between the Pasco County School Board and Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, May 4, 2021
School Policing Hub with resources for advocates and school leaders
Communicating Effectively
Why Some San Antonio Students Want an End to School Policing, Texas Public Radio
Austin Groups Call for Divestment from School Police
For more resources, see IDRA’s Ensuring Fair Discipline site.
