Stand Up for Students
Will you join youth who are standing up for civil rights? On August 14, youth from different parts of California will lead a rally in Sacramento to ask Governor Jerry Brown to meet with young people to understand why it is critical that he stand with them to fix our inequitable school discipline laws and sign legislation that will help enforce the civil rights of all students in all communities across California.
School suspensions aren’t equal. Did you know that in California:
· Some schools suspend 40% of students.
· Black students are 4 times more likely to be suspended for “willful defiance” than white students.
· Students with disabilities are 2 times more likely to be suspended for “willful defiance” than students without disabilities.
· LGBT students are 1.4 times more likely to be suspended than their straight peers.
Whether you are a student of color, an LGBT student, a student with disabilities, a parent or a member of a school community, school discipline is an important civil rights issue. The harm is real and long-lasting; students who are suspended are far more likely to be pushed out of school and into our juvenile justice system.
It shouldn’t matter where you live or who you are when it comes to school suspensions, but, in California, it does. Assembly Bill 420 would help to fix the inequality in our state by ensuring that out-of-school suspension for “willful defiance” is used, as required, as