On January 1, 2015, schools across the state will stop suspending students out of school and in-school in kindergarten through third grade for “disruption” and “willful defiance,” in compliance with new law AB420. As part of our mission to fight bigotry of all kinds, the Anti-Defamation League has had a long history of supporting equal access to quality education for all students—the goal promised in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling in 1954. ADL has been a prominent voice on issues of educational equity and access, and we welcome the changes that AB420 will require.
In addition to eliminating suspensions for “disruption” and “willful defiance”, AB 420 also ends expulsions in K-12 for these reasons under Education Code 48900(k). Under AB 420, schools will need to implement different strategies to help students struggling with social and emotional issues. Research shows that the best practices in discipline include social emotional learning curriculum, restorative practices, and School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports work for all students.
This change in the law makes sense. Studies have shown that even one suspension can make it five times more likely that a student will drop out and three times more likely that a student will be referred to the juvenile justice system. A young adult who drops out of high school is more than 63 times more likely to become incarcerated later in life than someone who graduates from college, feeding the pipeline from the schoolhouse to the jailhouse.
The League has ardently supported reforming discriminatory school discipline policies by, among other things, re-evaluating zero tolerance policies and other harsh school policies that increase school suspensions and expulsions and that disproportionately affect students of color, LGBT students, and students with disabilities. To that end, ADL convenes the Education Equity Task Force with leaders from around the country to address achievement gaps and access issues as well as disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline.
With the passage and implementation of AB 420, California has once again shown itself to be a leader in promoting civil rights and equality for all. We are gratified that in addition to the statewide passage of AB420, Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Francisco Unified School District have already completely banned suspensions and expulsions for willful defiance. ADL will be working with coalition partners on initiatives to support the implementation of AB420. For more information on how your school district and school can take action to ensure AB 420 is fully implemented please visit FixSchoolDiscipline.org, where you can find free tools, research, and examples of schools and districts across the state that are doing the same.