Search results for: school discipline

Students, parents and teachers staged a rally last month in front of the L.A. Unified Schools headquarters to urge the district and School Police Department to overhaul its old system of citations for students committing minor offenses. (Gary Friedman, Los Angeles Times / August 9,…

By Joanna LinRacial minorities and students with disabilities are suspended at substantially higher rates than their white and non-disabled peers, according to an analysis of discipline data from nearly 500 California school districts. Researchers said the disparities are a civil rights issue and cause for…

By Fania Davis, YES! MagazineAs executive director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, Fania Davis sees programs like hers helping to shut down the school-to-prison pipeline.'Punitive justice asks only what rule of law was broken, who did it, and how they should be punished. It…

By Sally Lee, Executive Director, Teachers UniteNot long ago a New Haven, Conn., high school with a predominantly African-American student body had an annex for students with chronic absences and those labeled as having behavioral issues. The annex was located in the New Haven Armory,…

By Louis Freedberg.  Two of the state’s largest districts are undergoing a major expansion of health centers on school campuses after promised help from Sacramento never came.To build new facilities, Oakland and Los Angeles are tapping a combination of voter-approved bond money, fees from Medi-Cal…

[caption id="attachment_54151" align="alignright" width="300"] The video shows a South Carolina school officer grabbing a high school student from her chair, knocking her to the floor and dragging her across the classroom.[/caption] As a native of South Carolina, I watched with complete horror and sadness the…

by Kavitha MedirattaAs the country searches for ways to keep students safe in schools, we must ensure that our efforts do not hinder academic success or, worse, push students out of school and into the juvenile justice system.In the wake of recent school shooting tragedies,…

MSNBC video: Focusing on the school-to-prison pipelineBy Emily WilsonPhoto Credit: iofoto / Shutterstock.comIn the last 20 years, there has been a shocking rise in the number of schools that embrace zero tolerance policies that regularly leave students suspended, expelled or arrested for the kinds of infractions…

[video src="https://youtu.be/fM-nO7muBrg"] High school student Damon Smith had been suspended more than 20 times before entering Ralph Bunche High School in Oakland, an alternative high school for chronically expelled students. After working with Eric Butler, a restorative justice counselor at the school, Damon left behind…

Students and advocates rally at police headquarters after the release of data on arrests and police incidents at city schools. Photo: Gotham SchoolsBy Rachel CromidasPolice officers arrested more students and handed out more tickets in schools as the school year got underway, according to new…