Bad for students

Opinion: October 28, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Annette Fuentes

McClatchy-Tribune

We need to stop kicking so many kids out of school.

Education reform is back on the front burner, with a recent call by President Obama for Congress to fix problems with the national education law No Child Left Behind. The legislation sets one-size-fits-all standards for student academic achievement that many have criticized as unrealistic and counterproductive. But no education reform will be complete or effective unless it also expels zero-tolerance disciplinary policies that are causing a tsunami of student suspensions.

Every year, public schools order millions of in-school and out-of-school suspensions for misbehaviors that in another era would have merited a trip to the principal’s office, at most. Talking out in class or shoving classmates in the hallway today can get your kid a citation from the school for “defiance of authority” or “disorderly conduct” — and a suspension to boot.

California public schools gave nearly 800,000 suspensions last year; Texas schools gave 2 million. In both states, most suspensions were for behaviors that school staff had discretion in punishing, not actions that required mandatory suspension. Florida, New York, Georgia — the story is the same around the country. Student suspensions are at what many education experts consider epidemic levels.

Zero-tolerance student discipline goes hand-in-glove with No Child Left Behind’s inflexible mandates on high-stakes testing and annual achievement levels. These policies have created pressure-cooker conditions for students and teachers.

Class size

Cutbacks to education budgets that have slashed teachers and inflated class size have made matters worse, too. Low-achieving students — often those with learning or other disabilities — face higher rates of suspensions as a consequence.

And once suspended, students are likely to experience more suspensions as they get older, increasing their risk of dropping out of school and falling into the juvenile justice system.

Creating safe and secure classrooms for students and teachers without relying on punitive measures is an important ingredient for raising academic achievement.

Annette Fuentes is the author of the book “Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse.” She wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.