The Law in Education – Gun Free Schools Act

Classnotes Podcast (September 16, 2024) 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the federal Gun Free Schools Act of 1994 – a landmark bill that promised to bring about an end to gun violence on school campuses. But schools are no safer now than they were when the law went into effect.

Policymakers and school leaders have used the law’s underlying policy rationales to justify harmful discipline and school safety measures. These include hardening school facilities, surveilling students and families, investing in school policing and security, and relying on so-called “zero tolerance” punishments that push students out of school and into the criminal justice system.

Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., talks with colleague, Morgan Craven, J.D., and Andrew Hairston, J.D., from Texas Appleseed about how, three decades after the Gun-Free Schools Act’s passage, these policies and practices continue to harm students – particularly Black students, other students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students with disabilities.

This podcast episode continues our series of episodes on education and the law, where IDRA works to uplift the stories behind landmark cases and laws impacting education civil rights.

Show length: 47:37 min

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Resources

Thirty Years Later, the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act Continues to Harm Students and Communities, by Rebekah Skelton, IDRA Newsletter, March 2024

What Safe Schools Should Look Like for Every Student: A Guide to Building Safe and Welcoming Schools and Rejecting Policies that Hurt Students, by Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA

33 Years Later, Tough on Crime Still Bad for Students, by Makiah Lyons, J.D., Knowledge is Power, February 24, 2023

Commentary: Texas bills offer illusion of school safety, Paige Duggins-Clay, San Antonio Express-News, May 2, 2023

Willful Defiance: The Movement to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline, by Mark R. Warren (Amazon)

Joint Testimony in Opposition to SB 245, submitted by IDRA, Texas Center for Justice and Equity, and Texas Appleseed Against SB 245, to the House Committee on Public Health, April 12, 2023 – See video

Zero Tolerance Policies Push Students Away – High Attrition Rates of Black Students and Hispanic Students Are Linked to Exclusionary Discipline, Supplemental analysis in 2015-16 IDRA attrition study, by Roy Johnson, M.S., IDRA

Listening Session on Federal Relief – The Next Steps for our Children, Teachers and Parents in Uvalde – Testimony by Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA National Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement Presented before the U.S. Congressional Children’s Caucus, September 26, 2