In a review of 2011-12 data of in-school and out-of-school suspensions for the 30 largest districts in the state, EdSource found that four districts used the category of willful defiance as a reason to suspend students about two-thirds of the time, while nine districts relied on it a third or less of the time. Overall, almost half – 48 percent – of the suspensions in the state were for willful defiance in 2011-12, the most recent data available from the California Department of Education. An EdSource analysis has found dramatic differences among the state’s largest school districts in their reliance on the controversial category of “willful defiance” of school authorities as a reason to suspend students.
Fontana Unified, east of Los Angeles, used willful defiance of school authorities as the reason for 71 percent of its suspensions – the highest among the 30 districts. San Juan Unified near Sacramento was close behind at 69 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Poway Unified, near San Diego, cited willful defiance in only 11 percent of its suspensions, the lowest among the 30 districts.
The data do not explain why these differences