https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/new-scrutiny-on-suspension-rates-in-some-well-known-dc-charter-schools/2017/02/17/1616c19c-f2cc-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html?utm_term=.91bf439ce38d
This article looks at the suspension rate at 2 charter school districts which currently have over 6000 students enrolled (between the 2) and suspend about a quarter of their students each year where as other schools in DC have a 7-15% suspension rate. The kids are being suspending for violations of broad policies such as acting in a manner "inconsistent with the best interest" of the school.
I definitely see some ambivalence from the school council and officials on the matter. It is great that the high suspension rate is being brought up as a concern and being talked about. One school even reported with such high rates, they are trying alternatives to suspensions. However, the school council feels like they cannot implement the same regulations that the public schools are held to because charter schools are a school of choice. Regardless of the schools being a school of choice, I feel like charter schools should definitely be held to some sort of standard in this matter. Suspending large rates of students may make the classroom more manageable but it is detrimental to the student's educational needs.
I definitely agree with your statement that charter schools should be held to a standard in terms of appropriate use of suspension. Suspension can be a large risk contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline. Using suspension to address minor infractions places students at risk for falling behind educationally and acting out on their frustration, either in more major infractions leading to subsequent suspensions, or even potentially leading to dropout. Even though these are not public schools, they still have a duty to provide for the educational needs of students. While this means minimizing distractions in the classroom and creating an environment conducive to learning, it also means exploring options for keeping students engaged and working to identify root causes of suspend-able behaviors, rather than simply removing the "problem child" from the equation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that suspension is detrimental to student's educational needs. I watched a video in another class called 'Paper Tigers' and it showed a school who had high suspension rates but was able to overcome this with the use of trauma informed education practices. I believe that this can be a factor in the education system with suspensions. These educators need more trainings on the behaviors that they are likely to see in the classroom. I think this would better prepare them with how to react to these types of students.
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