Legislation supporting the gathering of information on how minorities are treated in schools, juvenile courts and other institutions won state Senate committee approval Thursday.
The bill came out of the Judiciary Committee. Its chair, Whitney Westerfield, says more black youth are ending up in juvenile justice, social welfare and educational discipline systems than white youth. Westerfield admits, after the information gathering, next steps are difficult to determine right now.
“Maybe it means more training for this group or that," Westerfield said. "Maybe it means there’s something that’s not in state government, but it’s in our communities or in our homes or something. I don’t know. Maybe we can’t identify where ever it is.”
The legislation also defines physical restraint and sets limits on such disciplinary practices in schools.
