Policy Brief Criticizing a Local, State, or Federal Policy

Policy Brief of Policy
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Course and Section
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April 18, 2023
In today's increasingly diverse world, schools play a pivotal role in shaping the minds and behaviors of young individuals from different races and backgrounds. Disciplinary measures are essential for maintaining order and ensuring an environment conducive to learning. However, implementing zero-tolerance policies in K-12 schools across the United States has sparked intense debate and criticism, particularly at the state and local levels. This policy brief adopts the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to examine the daily impacts of these regulations on educators, students, and communities, drawing upon the main ideas and issues raised by Delgado and Stefancic (2001).
As schools strive to foster understanding, broaden perspectives, and inspire a commitment to service among their students, it is crucial to scrutinize the underlying motives and consequences of zero-tolerance policies. Research has shown that these policies disproportionately affect students of color, contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline and perpetuating systemic racism. In response, this brief proposes a policy of possibility that combines restorative justice, trauma-informed practices, and culturally sensitive instruction to create a more equitable, anti-racist education system.
By critically examining zero-tolerance policies in relation to CRT, policymakers, and educators can work together to dismantle punitive disciplinary measures and invest in professional development that fosters inclusive, equitable learning environments for all students, regardless of race or culture.
Policy Analysis and Brief
Every school should have disciplinary measures because it is there that a diverse population of individuals of different races congregates. When disciplinary measures are in place, pupils are more likely to behave appropriately because they are terrified of the consequences if they do not. The zero-tolerance rules introduced in K–12 schools in the United States are criticized in this policy brief, especially at the state and local levels. The daily effects of these regulations on educators, students, and communities are profound. The analysis is done through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), based on the main ideas and issues raised by Delgado and Stefancic (2001).
The brief ends with a policy of potential that incorporates ideas from prior modules and makes recommendations for how educational policies should assist anti-racist education more effectively. Because schools need to be places where people with small minds can learn to have broad, understanding ones, school broadens students' horizons and provides a ladder for them to view the world in new ways, inspiring them to work harder and serve others.
Accordingly, zero-tolerance rules in K–12 education, as was previously stated, are disciplinary procedures that impose severe consequences for particular offenses, frequently requiring suspension or expulsion. Sometimes, a minor infraction can be resolved with a quick trip to the guidance office, but the repercussions for major infractions are severe. These policies were initially put in place to address significant infractions like the possession of weapons, but they have now been broadened to cover a variety of student behaviors. Zero-tolerance policies have been shown to disproportionately affect pupils of color, leading to the school-to-prison pipeline and escalating systemic racism, according to research. As the school wants its students to participate and lead-free lives in the community, this should be reduced.
Inequalities in society's social, economic, and political spheres are maintained through racism and race, according to the CRT theoretical framework. To analyze zero-tolerance policies and comprehend the relationships between these policies and CRT, Delgado and Stefancic's (2001) key ideas are used. The following paragraph will discuss zero-Tolerance Policies in relation to CRT to help you analyze this better.
A CRT Analysis
According to Delgado and Stefancic (2001), racial progress is only achievable when the interests of minority groups align with those of the dominant group. When engaging with other group members, the dominant group has established a standard they have been using or adhering to unknowingly or interest convergence. Over time, this standard has become ingrained in their lives and minds. Zero-tolerance guidelines were initially put in place to ensure the safety of students. However, rather than addressing the underlying causes of disruptive behavior among students, their growth might be linked to the dominant group's interests in upholding order and control.
Protecting children does not include improving their quality of life because the same issue will recur once students leave the school grounds. Ed...