Statement to NYC City Council Committee on Public Safety

The Student Safety Act has been a pivotal piece of legislation that has contributed to greater transparency and accountability in education and juvenile justice system. The Student Safety Act data has shown that the work of community based, advocacy, and legal organizations that led the work to win this Policy to end the racial disparities in the policies and practices that negatively impact the lives of low income students of color, is rooted in facts. However over the years we have seen how the Act has shed greater light on these issues and have seen the limitations and loopholes of the reported data.

Schools can bypass the reporting of required data by enacting practices that have similar negative impacts on a students’ ability to learn and feel safe and supported in schools. For example, schools are not required to report in neither school suspensions or interactions with Emergency Medical Services, which many youth are referred to as a method of dealing with disciplinary issues. It also does not require reporting of student interactions with NYPD officers even though we know and have youth members who have been stopped and frisked multiple times one their way to and from school. These all have negative implications on a students’ education and life.

While we need to pass the amended Student Safety Act because it will further weaken the school-to-prison pipeline, we need to question why the over 5,000 SSAs are even under the authority and training of the NYPD. These SSAs should be full employees of the NYC Department of Education as the 1,700 schools are the locations they are operating in. And yet, the $239 million is automatically given to the NYPD for their authority of the SSAs. This money should stay in education just as the SSAs should stay under the authority of our education system.