A few weeks ago here on AccessLocal.Tv, an article published explained how crucial the school climate is to the academic development of a student. Some more information has come up after an article posted on The Huffington Post on the same subject, school climate. A study by UCLA’s Civil Rights Project shows that schools in California sharply decreased the number of suspensions given to students from 2011 to 2014 while at the same time in many areas increased in academic achievement.
Image taken by hackNY.org
This suggests that the removal of many suspensions actually supported schools in an academically positive way. This relates with the commonly used phrase “School-To-Pipeline”, an idea that students with more suspensions and expulsions will be more likely to wind up in Juvenile or Criminal Justice Systems. This study done by UCLA discredits the assumptions of that when schools lower their suspension rates, bad things will happen.
While this may be a sign of positive effect on schools in the United States, some teachers have come out and said that they have not received the proper training or resources to deal with situations of conflict or misbehavior. While in their opposition, some say that teachers may not have the proper training or resources, but it doesn’t mean that schools should decrease the progress of lessening the suspensions of students in schools.
“My take is: We agree teachers need support but it shouldn’t be either/or,” said Daniel Losen, Director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies. “We shouldn’t say, ‘Oh, let’s put up with something harmful to kids teachers are trained.’”
“Last year, students within the district were suspended more than 800 times for willful defiance. Afican-American students accounted for more than of those suspensions, despite making up only 17 percent of the student body.” Sacramento City Unified School District Chief Communications Officer Gabe Ross recently told News 10.
