State bill seeks to reduce school suspensions for defiance | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

State bill seeks to reduce school suspensions for defiance | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

State bill seeks to reduce school suspensions for defiance

by KPCC Staff

A view of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Two bills under consideration seek to reform how schools and police punish misbehaving students.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The Los Angeles Unified school district isn't the only government body seeking to reduce the number of student suspensions.
The Center for Public Integrity reported in a story today that a bill working its way through the California legislature, AB 420, would limit schools' ability to suspend students for defiance. In 2011-2012, 700,000 California students were suspended -- half of them for defiance.
Advocates have for years complained that minorities are more likely to be suspended than whites, and that a single suspension increases a child's likelihood to drop out of school.
L.A. Unified's board on Tuesday approved a student bill of rights that forbids suspensions for "willful defiance"