Wisconsin Schools Called Police on Students at Twice the National Rate. For Native Students, It Was the Highest.
In Wisconsin, students with disabilities and students of color also bore the brunt of school policing. In 2017-18, Wisconsin was more likely than any other state to refer Native students to law enforcement, reporting a rate over three times higher than the rate of referral for their white peers.
Diana Cournoyer, the executive director of the National Indian Education Association, called the numbers “appalling” and “disturbing.” But, she said, “I’m not surprised. Every Native person knows this, whether you’re in Wisconsin or not.”
That school year, Lakeland was at the top of the list in Wisconsin for referring Native students, and near the top of the list for referring students overall. In addition to the threats, Lakeland students were referred to police in 2017-18 for possessing drugs, alcohol and tobacco, Gauerke said.
Dane county, thanks to the GOP, has a big Juvie facility they like to keep full no matter if the kids belong there or not. We moved out of Madison with our adopted minority and special needs child as a result of these kind of policies before they could throw him in there too.
Here we are just shy of a decade later and the problem is only getting noticed. Because non-white and disabled kids just don’t count. But Madison only got in trouble about throwing kids in the Juvie facility when a pretty blond haired white cheerleader got locked up.