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Butte County’s Oroville City Elementary School District, which has a suspension rate that is three times the statewide average, is being investigated by the state Bureau of Children's Justice.
The study found that students from Southeast Asian countries, like Vietnam and Cambodia, had suspension and expulsion rates that were 2 to 3 times higher than those from China, Japan and other East Asian countries.
A new bill proposed by state Sen. Nancy Skinner would ban out-of-school suspensions in all grades for student behavior deemed “defiant and disruptive” by school authorities. Advocates hopeful Gov. Newsom will be more receptive than Jerry Brown, who vetoed two previous bills.
Behind the high suspension rates in rural areas are family struggles with poverty, mental illness, addiction and parental incarceration, a dearth of resources to address those needs and underfunded schools.
Many educators say restorative justice has transformed school climates. Others say it is over-hyped. A new study by the RAND Corp. lends support to both sides.
The report strongly recommended rescinding the Obama policies that both emphasized alternatives to suspensions and expulsions and highlighted data showing that students of color and those with disabilities were more likely than white students to face these punishments.
Brown's decision is a bitter disappointment for youth and civil rights advocates who have made eliminating suspensions for "disruption and defiance," which are disproportionately meted out to students of color, a priority.
Instruction days lost to suspensions dropped nearly by half from 2011-12 to 2016-17, according to a new report. But African American and Native American students -- and students with disabilities -- are still suspended at disproportionately high rates.
The bill passed Friday would expand the current ban, which covers grades K-3, to grades K-8. However, Gov. Jerry Brown, who several years ago vetoed a similar bill, has yet to signal support.
