New Report Highlights Urgent Need for School Discipline Reform

“This report builds on a growing body of research demonstrating that excessively harsh school discipline practices push students out of school, increase drop-out rates and unfairly impact students of color and those with special needs.

“While New York City’s suspension rate may be falling, city schools need system wide reform to ensure all staff are trained and supported to use developmentally appropriate disciplinary measures that keep kids in school and teach them how to effectively deal with conflict.

“In addition, today’s report highlights the need for clear guidelines about the role of police in school and transparent data collection and reporting, two areas where New York City remains largely out of step with school districts across the county. Street policing tactics do not belong in schools, yet there are more police personnel in our schools than there are guidance counselors and social workers. And the best way to know what is happening in our schools and who is impacted is complete reporting of school discipline data, a practice New York City largely shuns. Based on what we do know, the story is bleak. Today in our schools, children of color, children from low-income families and children with special needs are disproportionately suspended and arrested. And black students in particular are more likely to be arrested at school than their white counterparts and are the least likely to graduate with a Regent’s Diploma.

“As the largest school district in the country, New York City is uniquely poised to adopt meaningful reforms that keep our must vulnerable children connected to resources that support learning, regardless of their academic ability, ZIP code or skin color. We strongly hope the new administration will make this issue the top priority it should be.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union in 2010 filed a class-action lawsuit challenging illegal arrests and excessive force in New York City public schools.