CHICAGO�As the Rev. Jesse Jackson wages a high profile fight for students expelled from an Illinois school district for fighting, a Black education group said the "zero tolerance" policy that got the students kicked out disproportionately hurts Blacks.

"If this policy is not reversed, it will only intensify the hatred and polarization continually revealed throughout the world. Those sitting on school boards need to look at coalition-building, rather than sending out these armed fist policies," said Quintin Lawson, executive director of the National Alliance of Black School Educators, referring to the Decatur, Ill., school board policy that has drawn national attention.

Seven Black students were expelled from school for fighting after a football game because the school board said it had a zero tolerance policy against violence. After intervention by Rev. Jackson, Illinois Gov. George Ryan and a flood of media coverage, the expulsion was changed to one year, but controversy remains.

Rev. Jackson, speaking Nov. 20 at Rainbow PUSH headquarters, said the punishment is still too harsh. Rev. Jackson was jailed and has led protests in Decatur, calling for an end to the policy and a compromise to get the students back in school.

Rev. Jackson said the school board needs to assess each student�s case individually. The decision to have them attend alternative school needs to be rethought because the classes don�t count toward graduation, he added. Two of the students involved are seniors.

Rev. Jackson, who had death threats during a week of protests and trespassing on school property in Decatur, said the media has often tried to undercut the students� plight and Illinois has a problem with expulsions and suspensions of students.

"In 1998, there were 150,000 suspensions and 3,000 expulsions. These children must have some place to go. The penal system spends 6 to 10 times more on an inmate than the school system does per student," said Rev. Jackson.

A lawsuit filed by Atty. Lewis Meyers, which argues that the constitutional rights of the students were violated when the Decatur school board released their confidential records, is pending.

Illinois State Representative Mary Flowers expressed concern about the mental and academic progress of the students. "We need to think about the aftermath of this expulsion. It could have more of an affect than we realize. The punishment should include counseling and education," she argues.

Rev. Jackson and others agree that the students were wrong for fighting and should be disciplined. However, they say, the students had no weapons, no one was hurt and punishment should not be so severe.

Mr. Lawson, a former Congressional Black Caucus staffer and Baltimore City public school administrator, agrees.

"The school board is sending a message with its zero tolerance policy, but those kinds of policies often impact and are more adverse in the Black community. Those policies are not as common in white suburban communities. When there are a contingency of Black students, there�s a zero policy or three strikes and you�re out," he said.