Marlon Aldridge posted on March 11, 2014 07:00
The Urban Education Alliance, which is a division of the Black Man's Think Tank, supports the school discipline reform proposal, developed by Racial Justice Now! and submitted here. Please show your support by making comments below. It will be submitted to the DPS School Board when it convenes on April 15, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. I encourage all concerned citizens to attend and show your support for this initiative.
Please share with your friends and family.
DRAFT AS OF: Tuesday, March 11, 2014
School Discipline Reform Proposal[1]
Whereas, Dayton Public School has an unacceptably high incidence of out-of-school suspensions.
Whereas, suspensions do not promote safety or improved classroom environment;
Whereas, suspensions interfere with student learning and performance on high-stakes testing such as the Third Grade Guarantee;
Whereas, students who are suspended are more likely to drop-out of school, less likely to graduate and more likely to become involved in the juvenile justice system;
Whereas, black and brown students are more harshly disciplined for the same behavior as white students.
Whereas, a human rights approach to discipline which focuses on restorative justice and positive behavior intervention has been shown to improve classroom environment and promote student learning.
THEREFORE, Racial Justice NOW!, proposes that the Dayton Public School Board:
· Adopts as a priority for the district to keep students in school and in educative environment;
· Adopts a moratorium on suspensions for PK-3rd Grade;
· Adopts a moratorium on suspensions for disruptive behavior, truancy, verbal assault, and profanity;
· Eliminates racial disparities in suspensions (in and out of school), school-based arrests or placements in alternative schools by 2016-2017; and,
· Monitors each strategy and makes data available to the community on a quarterly basis.