School discipline investigation

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating possible discrimination by the Seattle School District. Investigators will look into the high rates of discipline for African American males in Seattle's schools, according to a Seattle Times report. Disparity in discipline along a number of ethnic lines is a longstanding problem in public schools, and it has received significant attention from the Obama administration.Former Seattle School Board member Steve Sundquist, who happened to be at Crosscut today for a meeting with writers and editors on school reform, called disparate discipline "an ongoing issue of board concern." He added: "It is absolutely something that is important for us as a school district." In a number of districts, the Justice Department has negotiated reform plans; it's not clear from the initial report what role Justice, which forced the city's police reform effort, might eventually assume in any work on discipline. The state Legislature, Sundquist noted, is also working on discipline-related reforms that would limit the amount of time students lose to any suspensions.