Hi, I'm Dan Pramak, host of Axios Recap.

Today we are back with another episode of our hard truth series, looking at structural racism.

This month, we're looking at policing in schools.

Here's my colleague Nyla Boodoo of our sister show, Axios Today.

Welcome to Axios today. I'm Nailabudu. We're here on a Saturday with a special podcast episode that's part of our Hard Truths project. It's a year of journalism that examines systemic racism. Maybe you're skeptical about systemic racism, but here's why we're looking at this. We're at a moment in American history where there is a reckoning and awareness about the way things have been done.

The widespread protests this summer have injected further urgency and change.

That's true when it comes to community policing, but it's also now affecting police who work in nearly half of America's public schools.

Since George Floyd's death, at least 40 school districts around the country

have disbanded their district police departments or changed the way police interact with their schools.

And here's why this matters.

Whether it's a suspension or an in-school arrest,

these punishments can sever the ties between students of color and their education,

making them less likely to graduate and often pushing them into the criminal justice system at a young age.

How is the way we think about police and schools changing?

To understand all this, I want to introduce you to two people with very different views.

On one side is a former police officer

who started a police department in schools in Georgia.

But first, on the other side is Jackie Byers,

who's been working to remove police

from Oakland schools for almost 10 years.

We were sort of on the margins.

A decade ago, a lot of folks

...