Broward County's School Leniency Program Part of Larger Obama-Era Plan to Force School 'Equity'

by DR. SUSAN BERRY
Breitbart
Mar. 21, 2018

The Broward County, Florida, school leniency program that was likely the inspiration for the Obama administration's plan to shrink the "school to prison pipeline" is part of a larger Obama-era plan to force school "equity."

Nikolas Cruz, who could face the death penalty for the alleged murder of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was never arrested for prior reported violent acts and threats of violence, a likely reason why he was able to pass a background check and purchase the firearm he used in the shooting rampage.

The plan behind the Obama administration's 2014 Dear Colleague letter that coerced public school districts into avoiding reports of aggressive and threatening behavior by minority students had been years in the making in Chicago when Broward County superintendent Robert Runcie was still working for Arne Duncan, who was CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) prior to being tapped by President Barack Obama as U.S. education secretary.

The social justice campaign for "equity" -- which took as its premise that minority students are disproportionately disciplined due to systemic racism and discrimination in schools -- has many tentacles. Broward County appears to have been a model for the campaign.

The programs to keep minority students out of the justice system were part of the Obama administration's 2011 Supportive School Discipline Initiative, the aim of which was "to coordinate federal actions to provide schools with effective alternatives to exclusionary discipline while encouraging a new emphasis on reducing disproportionality for students of color and students with disabilities."

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