Florida NAACP officials continue to blast the state for school zero tolerance policies that disproportionately affect minority students. Here's the most recent blast, as reported last week by the Florida Courier:

"When we suspend a kid, we send him straight to the streets and into gangs," said Florida NAACP Criminal and Juvenile Justice Chair Dale Landry. "We are complaining about gangs, but not saying anything about the Department of Education sending them to gangs."

"With the current education tax cuts, we will see zero tolerance intensify the school-to-jailhouse pipeline, further burdening the court system where they can't deal with true violent crimes instead of petty discipline cases. The educational system, not the teachers as much as the administrators, are abdicating their roles."
The comments were tied to a summit on zero tolerance co-sponsored by the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Education, the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and other groups. The St. Petersburg Times wrote about the NAACP's concerns in 2006, after it released this study.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter