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Student Rights

For liberty to be preserved, it must be nurtured in the hearts and minds of young people. The ACLU educates students about the many important rights they have and supports those who exercise their rights. In doing so, we help to prepare the next generation of guardians of liberty.

Resources

Know Your Rights: Police In Schools

Document, Published: 
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Many schools have police officers stationed on campus. Other schools may call police to respond to particular situations. Even though you are in school, you still have rights when interacting with police.
Published: 
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Washington's special education students are entering the school to prison pipeline because schools suspend or expel them twice as much as their peers.
Published: 
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Ten-year-old Tory moved from Georgia and started in the Clover Park School District in June 2015. While Tory was once excited to go to a school with supportive teachers, now he is anxious about school as a place where he will be mistreated by teachers and humiliated in front of his peers.
Published: 
Friday, July 28, 2017
Washington's special education students are entering the school to prison pipeline because schools suspend or expel them twice as much as their peers.
Published: 
Friday, July 21, 2017
Washington's special education students are entering the school to prison pipeline because schools suspend or expel them twice as much as their peers.

Equal Access Act

Document, Published: 
Friday, May 5, 2017
Many schools allow students to form clubs, like a drama club or a debate club. Under the law, schools cannot discriminate against student clubs, like Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) for example, simply because they disagree with the message or purpose of a club. This document provides information about the federal Equal Access Act and protections for student clubs.
News Release, Published: 
Monday, April 24, 2017
Students, Not Suspects Highlights How School Policing Funnels Youth into School-to-Prison Pipeline
Published: 
Monday, April 24, 2017
A new ACLU report exposes how police in Washington's schools funnel youth into the school-to-prison pipeline.
Published: 
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Every year, more than 40,000 Washington public school students are suspended or expelled, and special education students make up nearly a third of these students.

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