Solutions Not Suspensions! A Call for a Moratorium on Out-of-School Suspensions

The Dignity in Schools Campaign Model Code on Education and Dignity presents a set of recommended policies to schools, districts and legislators to help end school pushout and protect the human rights to education, dignity, participation and freedom from discrimination. The Code is the culmination of several years of research and dialogue with students, parents, educators, advocates and researchers who came together to envision a school system that supports all children and young people in reaching their full potential.
In her annual Message on Public Education, Jan Resseger, Minister for Public Education and Witness at the United Church of Christ Justice, denounces the privatization of public education as the abdication of our responsibilities as citizens of a democratic nation to provide all children with a fair and substantive opportunity to learn.
This report analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on school discipline and suspensions in the 2009-10 school year to reveal the unconscionable disparities regarding which students are pushed out of the classroom through out-of-school suspensions.The source data covers 7,000 school districts and represents 85 percent of all public school students, making this report the first and most comprehensive analysis of the impact of out nation's school discipline policies.
17 percent of all African-American students received out-of-school suspensions in the 2009-2010 school year compared to 7 percent of Latino students and just 5 percent of White students. Even more shocking, 25 percent of African-American students with disabilities were suspended the same year.
The children of immigrants - mostly Hispanic and almost all U.S. citizens - account for the majority of growth in Arkansas's child population in the last decade. The same is true nationally. So any discussion of the Arkansas' economic future - or that of the entire country - must consider the challenges that children of immigrants face, including higher rates of poverty of school dropout and lack of access to health insurance.
The children of immigrants - mostly Hispanic and almost all U.S. citizens - account for the majority of growth in Arkansas's child population in the last decade. Any discussion of the state's economic future is incomplete without considering the challenges these children face, such as higher rates of poverty and school drop out and lack of insurance. This report outlines how those challenge affect the children of immigrants and the policy changes Arkansas can implement to improve the opportunities available to these children.
Fairness in school funding is more than lacking across the country. Southern states are doing a particularly unfair job providing their students with educational resources and opportunities. A recent report from the Education Law Center, "Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card," provides statistics and analysis of the fairness of school funding formulas for every state.
Far too many states continue to deny public schools the essential resources they need to provide every child with a fair and substantive opportunity to learn. The Second Edition of Education Law Center's Is School Funding Fair?