Miami New Times by Joshua Ceballos
July 26, 2019
A recent study by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida shows that in Miami-Dade County, black children make up only 20 percent of the student population but account for almost 60 percent of student arrests.
Following the report’s release, school board member Steve Gallon III has proposed that the board itself should analyze these disparities each year and devise ways to eliminate the bias that leads to more black kids getting arrested. After a passionate discussion about the disparity, the board this week unanimously voted to pass a policy to better analyze arrest data and get the full demographic picture of how schools discipline different groups of students.
Gallon tells New Times that Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s office already receives arrest data, but there is no formal mechanism in place for that data to be reviewed consistently and for policies to be made after analysis of it. The greater issue for Gallon is that the data does not give a detailed picture of the arrests.