The Associated Press reported that the ACLU of Louisiana is objecting to a policy at a Charter school that requires girls to take pregnancy tests if they are suspected of being pregnant and keeps pregnant students out of the classroom; threatening to sue if the policies don’t change. This is a violation of students’ rights, which the both the National ACLU and the ACLU of Louisiana executive director Marjorie R. Esman support.

"I haven't heard of this anywhere else," Esman said Tuesday. "And I hope there isn't another school anywhere on the planet that has a policy like this."

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The Chicago Tribune reported on a national study that says Illinois has the highest suspension rates for African-American students out of the 47 states included in the study. The ACLU of Illinois believes that every student, regaurdless of race, deserves fair treatment in their public school.

One of every 4 African-American public school students in Illinois was suspended at least once for disciplinary reasons during the 2009-10 school year, the highest rate among 47 states examined in a national study released Tuesday.

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The New York Times reported on a new analysis of Department of Education data that says that students with disabilities are almost two times as likely to be suspended from their school as non-disabled students. The article also discussed school districts, some in Illinois, where the suspension rates for students of minority races are significantly higher than those of white students. The ACLU said schools facing these problems should look to other schools for answers about how to fix it.  The ACLU, which advocates on behalf of people with disabilities, believes all students have the right to be in school.

“There are schools that have low-income, high-minority populations where they don’t have high suspension rates,” said Dennis Parker, director of the Racial Justice Program at the American Civil Liberties Union. Mr. Parker added that schools could lower suspensions by “creating an environment in which students are less likely to misbehave.”

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