@staciemcclam Some school districts have policies that ban suspensions. Suspensions should be an option when school districts fail to properly fund restorative justice programs and counseling services. A December 13, 2019 article on Edsource.org entitled L.A. Unified’s ban on willful defiance suspensions, six years later written by Carolyn Jones states, “In 2013, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education banned willful defiance suspensions for all students, garnering national headlines and praise from social justice groups.”
The result of the suspension ban has been a significant decrease in suspensions in Los Angeles Unified School District which, in theory, is a good thing. However, the mere reduction of suspensions does not equate to improved student behavior especially when no effective alternative was provided. While some progress has been made with individual schools, the reality of the policy’s consequence is that most schools still do not have enough resources to deal with students who are deemed “willfully defiant.” The policy is laudable on paper, it’s an unfunded mandate.
In the California Education Code, willful defiance is defined as Education Code Section 48900(k)(1): Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.”
The consequence of banning suspensions without a proper alternative is essentially allowing students to disrupt the classroom and school learning environment. If there is no alternative, then how are schools, particularly those schools with students of color, managing student misbehavior? The problem is they aren’t. Students know that they can get away with anything, and they do. Many students hit and curse at teachers, instigate fights on a daily basis with other students, and disrupt classroom learning.
Thus, suspensions are not the answer, but I think they should be a last resort when there is no alternative. Suspensions may not solve the problem, but neither does ignoring misbehaviors which are often the case. The argument that suspensions lead to the school to prison pipeline and disproportionately impact students of color is true. There is a lot of research to support unconscious bias that specifically impacts Black students. However, we can’t take extreme measures and completely get rid of a system when some students of color need suspension as a consequence. Suspensions are not always bad, and we need to make changes to the policy, not get rid of it.
Banning suspensions is an attempt to put a band-aid on a serious problem. – how to address student misbehavior and discipline specifically with students of color. The problem is that the misbehaviors of students of color have been ignored and neglected across the nation even before suspensions were banned in Los Angeles Unified School District and other school districts. We turn a blind eye. It’s as if we’ve become immune to disrespectful students and toxic school environments. Banning suspensions without addressing the underlying problem allows the problem to flourish. That is what leads to the school to prison pipeline – our failure to address student needs.
According to the previously cited article, “In September (2019), Gov. Newsom signed Senate Bill 419 which bars schools from suspending students in kindergarten through 8th grade for willful defiance — defying teachers and other school staff, or disrupting school activities. The ban will go into effect in July (2020) and extends one that was already in place for kindergarten through 3rd grade.” I hope that the extension of the ban to 8th grade will be fully funded and that district-wide surveys will be provided to all California teachers to receive feedback about the impact of banning suspensions on their school campuses.
The result of the suspension ban has been a significant decrease in suspensions in Los Angeles Unified School District which, in theory, is a good thing. However, the mere reduction of suspensions does not equate to improved student behavior especially when no effective alternative was provided. While some progress has been made with individual schools, the reality of the policy’s consequence is that most schools still do not have enough resources to deal with students who are deemed “willfully defiant.” The policy is laudable on paper, it’s an unfunded mandate.
In the California Education Code, willful defiance is defined as Education Code Section 48900(k)(1): Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.”
The consequence of banning suspensions without a proper alternative is essentially allowing students to disrupt the classroom and school learning environment. If there is no alternative, then how are schools, particularly those schools with students of color, managing student misbehavior? The problem is they aren’t. Students know that they can get away with anything, and they do. Many students hit and curse at teachers, instigate fights on a daily basis with other students, and disrupt classroom learning.
Thus, suspensions are not the answer, but I think they should be a last resort when there is no alternative. Suspensions may not solve the problem, but neither does ignoring misbehaviors which are often the case. The argument that suspensions lead to the school to prison pipeline and disproportionately impact students of color is true. There is a lot of research to support unconscious bias that specifically impacts Black students. However, we can’t take extreme measures and completely get rid of a system when some students of color need suspension as a consequence. Suspensions are not always bad, and we need to make changes to the policy, not get rid of it.
Banning suspensions is an attempt to put a band-aid on a serious problem. – how to address student misbehavior and discipline specifically with students of color. The problem is that the misbehaviors of students of color have been ignored and neglected across the nation even before suspensions were banned in Los Angeles Unified School District and other school districts. We turn a blind eye. It’s as if we’ve become immune to disrespectful students and toxic school environments. Banning suspensions without addressing the underlying problem allows the problem to flourish. That is what leads to the school to prison pipeline – our failure to address student needs.
According to the previously cited article, “In September (2019), Gov. Newsom signed Senate Bill 419 which bars schools from suspending students in kindergarten through 8th grade for willful defiance — defying teachers and other school staff, or disrupting school activities. The ban will go into effect in July (2020) and extends one that was already in place for kindergarten through 3rd grade.” I hope that the extension of the ban to 8th grade will be fully funded and that district-wide surveys will be provided to all California teachers to receive feedback about the impact of banning suspensions on their school campuses.