“The nation’s second largest school district will stop criminalizing students for low-level offenses as part of wider reforms relating to controversial zero-tolerance policies, officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District announced Tuesday.

Under previous policies, students would face arrest or citations for nonviolent violations including possessing alcohol or marijuana on campus. Now, such students will be sent to the principle’s office or be given mandatory counseling.

Activists welcomed the decision, saying it will help stem the so-called school-to-prison pipeline that they argue unfairly targets minorities. The ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ refers to a nationwide system of policies that push students out of school and into the juvenile criminal justice systems for minor offenses such as goofing off in class or showing up late.” *

Cenk Uygur (http://www.twitter.com/cenkuygur) and Ana Kasparian (http://www.twitter.com/AnaKasparian) break it down on The Young Turks.

*Read more here from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/19/zero-tolerance-school.html