Houston Institute Argues North Carolina School Discipline Undermines Fundamental Right to Education

The Houston Institute joined forces with The Advancement Project, Russ Skiba from Indiana University, and the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights to co-write a brief arguing that exclusionary school discipline jeopardizes students’ fundamental right to an education, citing recent social science evidence of the harmful impacts of zero tolerance and other exclusionary policies.

The brief was co-signed by, among other national organizations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP-LDF, the New York Law School Racial Justice Project, and the American Civil Liberties Union. The statement of interest describes amici as organizations that “share a common concern that the widespread use of exclusionary practices has resulted in significant infringement of the educational rights of students around the country and in North Carolina.”

The HLS Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice is directed and founded by Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. The Institute honors and continues the work of one of the great civil rights lawyers of the twentieth century. Litigator, scholar and teacher, Charles Hamilton Houston dedicated his life to using the law as a tool to reverse the unjust consequences of racial discrimination.

Read our brief: