Our school discipline mistake: We should never have imposed zero-tolerance policies on kids
We all want safe and welcoming school environments where students can learn and teachers can teach. But two recent disturbing examples of extreme reactions to student conduct have brought the negative effects of such responses into sharp relief.
Viewers have been horrified by the shocking video of a white sheriff’s deputy in South Carolina assaulting an African-American student who refused to hand over her cellphone. The video shows the girl seated at her desk, until the officer flips her desk to the floor and drags her across the classroom. On its face, it’s an outrageous use of force and aggression.
The other shock was closer to home for New Yorkers: Newspaper and television exposés have revealed that the Success Academy charter-school chain has suspended or expelled elementary students, including many kindergarteners, often for minor infractions — and at a rate seven times higher than elementary students in New York City’s public school system as a whole.
As a former New York City public school teacher and someone in constant contact with students, their families and educators, I know there are cases when suspension or expulsion is necessary. And I am just as certain that less serious (and more common) incidents should be dealt with using appropriate, proportionate strategies.
That is why many of us have called for re-evaluating the zero-tolerance policies for student misbehavior adopted throughout the nation over the last two decades. These policies were promoted by people, including me, who hoped they would create safe learning environments for students by freeing them from disruptions by misbehaving peers. It was analogous to the broken-windows theory of policing.
We were wrong. Data from two decades of these get-tough policies show they have failed to improve school safety. They have emphasized punishment, rather than developing the positive behaviors students need in school and in life. They have resulted in an incalculable loss of learning time. And zero-tolerance policies disproportionately impact students of color, particularly African-American and Latino boys.
That is why the U.S. Education and Justice departments issued new guidance regarding zero-tolerance policies. After examining student discipline in America’s schools in light of this data, they found that discriminatory use of suspensions and expulsions violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This guidance must inform school practices, as it has in New York City, where efforts to reduce suspensions from public schools lowered suspensions last school year by 17% compared to the previous year.
Publicly funded charter schools have a legal (and, I would add, moral) obligation to educate the students they have, not just the students they want to have. It’s hard work to ensure that all schools are safe and welcoming places for all children. It means changing policies, practices and cultures; providing Randi Weingarten: Our school discipline mistake - NY Daily News:
