Los Angeles schools are leading the way to keep students in school and learning. The LAUSD school board has approved a School Climate Bill of Rights that will help schools reduce suspensions of students for minor behavioral issues, and implement alternatives that will support all students, improve school climate, and increase achievement. Click here to ... Read More
LAUSD considers banning the use of suspensions for ‘willful defiance,’ a move that would be a first for California. LAUSD has been a leader in reforming school discipline through looking at suspension data, and by using positive incentives to encourage better student behavior. L.A. Superintendent John Deasy says, “Willful defiance has become a vehicle for ... Read More
Suspensions are used to discipline students for just about everything these days. Here are some recent articles that demonstrate some truly unbelievable stories of student suspensions. From Science Class To School-to-Prison? Criminalizing Black Girls A 16-year old African-American girl got arrested and expelled when her failed experiment in science class caused an explosion. Read more… ... Read More
5.10.13 Even though many of you know that our policy work is focused on California, school districts all across the country are making moves from punitive to restorative justice practices in their schools. We want to include school districts that are beginning to have these important conversations, as well as bring you more of these ... Read More
Even while restorative justice initiatives leave suspension rates trending down, and school districts are made more aware of the racial disparity in suspension rates, in Sacramento County, the number of suspensions rose by about 10% from the 2011-2012 school year. The majority of these suspensions were disproportionately with black students. Read more… In Stockton, widespread disillusionment with ... Read More
California is moving ahead again…to keep more students in school and learning. SB 744 and AB 549 passed out of the Senate and Assembly Education Committees yesterday afternoon! The hearings were packed with students, community leaders, and parents standing in support. Last year California enacted five new laws to fix problems with harsh school discipline ... Read More
This week, the Assembly Education Committee voted unanimously to move ahead with AB 420, which restricts the use of “willful defiance” in schools. Even though current law sites 23 other reasons for suspension and expulsions, “willful defiance” is often seen as a catch-all, and accounts for 53% of all school suspensions. New data around “willful defiance” ... Read More
UCLA’s Monday release of their report Out of School & Off Track: The Overuse of Suspensions in American Middle and High Schools gained a lot of of media attention throughout the digital, print and televised world. This cross-section of media, both locally and nationally, is an exciting indication of a widespread desire to examine the way punitive ... Read More
A brand-new national report out today from UCLA’s Civil Rights Project reveals that the use of harsh school discipline has increased across the country. African American and Latino students, students with disabilities, and English-language learners are more likely to face harsh school discipline than other students. Even one suspension in 9th grade doubles the risk ... Read More
The Oakland Unified School District is working to combat racial disparities in how it disciplines students. This year, it has made some progress in reducing suspensions of African-American students, using a restorative justice framework. Additionally, it also developed a plan that looks at school culture and climate, working with teachers and staff to provide trainings ... Read More
