New state data show a steep drop in suspensions and expulsions of California students, continuing a recent downward trend. Altogether, 20 percent fewer students were expelled and 15 percent fewer students were suspended in 2013-14 than in the previous year.
Since 2011-12, suspensions have dropped by 25 percent and expulsions by 30 percent.
A steep drop in suspensions for “willful defiance” accounted for the bulk of the decrease in suspensions. This category has come under fire because it has been used to discipline a wide range of behaviors, from forgetting homework to disrespecting teachers, and has been applied disproportionately to African-American students. About 76,000 fewer suspensions for willful defiance or disruption of school activities were recorded in 2013-14, a drop of about 29 percent from the previous year. The number of suspensions includes multiple suspensions of the same students.
The percentage of students expelled for willful defiance also dropped, from 6 percent in 2012-13 to 4 percent in 2013-14. Beginning in January 2015, students can no longer be expelled for willful defiance, and K-3 students cannot be suspended for that reason.
[For more of this story, written by Susan Frey, go to http://edsource.org/2015/suspe...e/72857#.VLhfJCvF-5V]
Comments (0)