Uniforms work

Editor, The Commercial: If one expects local government to craft public policy based on facts and evidence, you’re in the wrong city. This stone is typically best thrown at the Pine Bluff City Council or the Jefferson County Quorum Court, but the recent Pine Bluff School Board decision to drop the uniform requirement for students shows they’re just as fallible.

At a time when Pine Bluff is experiencing a wholly unacknowledged and unaddressed epidemic of youth violence, school uniforms should be way down the list of things to change. Yet here we are.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice report, “School uniforms may decrease violence and theft, prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school, promote student discipline, help parents and students resist peer pressure, help students concentrate on their schoolwork, and enable school officials to recognize school intruders.”

A survey of principals conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found, “Sixty-four percent of principals said uniforms positively impacted student achievement at their school, and 77 percent said uniforms helped boost school pride. A sizeable percentage of principals also observed improvements in areas such as classroom discipline (85 percent) and student safety (79 percent) as a result of dress code policies.”

As NAESP executive director Gail Connelly states, “We know that a school uniform policy can help reduce instances of classroom discipline and bullying, as well as improve student safety and attendance … [uniforms] whether in public or private schools, [have] a powerful influence on school culture in ways that contribute to greater levels of student achievement.”

Even so, here in Pine Bluff, our local officials always seem to “know better.” As a City Council member once told me, “Dr. Pate, I’ve listened to all your facts and statistics, but I just think …” In other words, I’ve listened to all the evidence and I’m going to do something contrary to it anyway.

Serious violence is becoming too common on local schoolyards. I don’t know who stands to benefit from this policy change, but it isn’t the students.

MATTHEW PATE, PINE BLUFF