Missouri asked to redirect funding in schools by ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has written to several school districts throughout the state urging them to remove police officers from schools, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

ACLU says money spent on school resource officers should instead go to the social-emotional needs of children, such as by hiring more social workers and counselors.

So far the organization has sent a letter to nine school administrators, mostly in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

Research was cited by ACLU that shows strict disciplinary practices in schools often target black males and set those children up for negative interactions with law enforcement and incarceration later on, according to the Associated Press.

Luz María Henríquez, executive director of ACLU Missouri, said there is, “no evidence that increased police presence in schools improves school safety.”

In two other states, the Denver and Minneapolis school boards have voted to end contracts with local police departments. This decision followed the weeks of protest after the death of George Floyd and others.

However, a national organization representing school resource officers says it’s the wrong move, according to the Associated Press.

“We are, of course, dismayed to learn that some school systems have recently discontinued or considered discontinuing their SRO programs,” Mo Canady, the executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers said in the article published by the Associated Press.