In Colorado -- For many years, the overuse of harsh school disciplinary measures such as out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, police tickets, and school-based arrests has caused severe harm to Colorado’s students, families, schools, and communities. . . . . In response, Padres & Jóvenes Unidos and its allies launched a campaign in 2010 to address the use of harsh and discriminatory school discipline and move toward ending the school-to-prison pipeline in Colorado. It culminated with the 2012 passage of the Smart School Discipline Law (SSDL), which was passed by the state legislature with broad bipartisan support and is arguably the preeminent example of comprehensive school discipline legislation in the country. This month they released their report, THE COLORADO SCHOOL DISCIPLINE REPORT CARD: THE STATE OF 179 DISTRICTS. Among their conclusions, It is incumbent upon all of our education policymakers throughout the state to ensure that the intent of the Smart School Discipline Law is realized. Thus, collectively they should be mining the states’ success stories for lessons learned and exportable models while taking the additional actions at the local and state levels to fully implement the law. As a state, we have already taken a critical step forward in helping more Colorado students avoid the “school-to-prison pipeline.” But our work is not complete until all youth have an equal opportunity to stay in school and receive the high-quality education they deserve, rather than be alienated and pushed out of school toward prison by punitive, exclusionary and criminalizing discipline.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 14:47:51 +0000