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Report Calls For Review Of School Discipline Laws
By Bianca Vazquez Toness (WBUR)
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A justice advocacy group is calling for a review of state laws governing school discipline.
A new report by the Appleseed Center for Law and Justice says the majority of children suspended or expelled in Massachusetts are special education students.
During the 2006-2007 year, schools permanently expelled 365 students. Joan Meschino from the Appleseed Center says the state should ask why kids are expelled. “When you talk about excluding children from school, that has a profound effect on a child’s life,” Meschino says.
Meschino worries that some students are thrown out for behavior that doesn’t threaten school safety. She’s calling for an expulsions review process and a cap on the number of days a student can be kept out of school.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
our goal as educators is to find a way to keep them in school. I like Meschino’s expulsion review process. Someone must care about them. In most cases, that someone is only the school.
Glad to see someone thinking outside the box. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting the same results.