A new report from the ACLU reveals that the state of Iowa has among the highest arrest rates of Asian American Pacific Islander students in the country, reports Little Village.
According to the report released this month, 80 per 10,000 Pacific Islander students in Iowa were arrested in the 2015-2016 school year. That’s the highest arrest rate of Pacific Islander students in the nation. Asian students placed second in Iowa with an arrest rate of 13 per 10,000 during the same period. Hawaii ranks first nationally with an arrest rate of Asian students of 24 per 10,000.
Iowa also ranks first in percentage of Black students arrested (125 per 10,000). Compare that to 31 per 10,000 of White students.
“We have not seen the report and are unable to speak to the statistics because our department does not track arrests in schools,” a spokesperson for the state said to the Little Village.
“While student discipline in Iowa is a local decision left up to schools, we believe involving law enforcement should be a last resort and that students of color must be treated with the fairness and respect that all children deserve,” Staci Hupp said.
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According to an editorial in the Des Moines Register, Iowa has three times more police officers than social workers in schools.
The ACLU report concluded that students in the United States overall are under resourced and over criminalized. It called for federal, state, and local govdernments to prioritize counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses instead of police.
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