The following statement was made by Allison Brim, education campaign director of the Texas Organizing Project and a Dallas ISD mother, in response to viral videos showing the appalling mistreatment of two DISD students by district police:
“Schools should be a nurturing, safe space for our students. We trust when we send our children to school that they will be protected and treated with kindness and consideration.
“That’s why seeing the treatment this girl and boy received at the hands of police at DISD schools is shocking and sad. Incidents like these are, unfortunately, not isolated or infrequent.
“They are a byproduct of an over-policing of our public schools, a frightening trend that criminalizes students, particular students of color, and funnels them into the pipeline to prison. This must stop.
“Earlier this year, TOP, Texas Appleseed, and ACLU of Texas were instrumental in championing a policy authored by Trustee Miguel Solis that will equip school staff with the skills needed to correct behavior and teach students healthy ways of dealing with the root causes of their acting out, instead of just kicking young kids out of class and disciplining them in ways that harm and dehumanize them.
“TOP demands that Dallas ISD trustees and Superintendent Hinojosa get to the bottom of this and hold staff accountable to ensure that disturbing incidents like these do not happen in the future. The district’s parents and students deserve better.”
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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Brown communities in Texas’ three largest counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.