By Dianne Anderson

Willful defiance suspensions and expulsions that expanded the bulging prison population may ease up a bit under a recent law passed by Gov. Newsom, which comes as good news for local parents and organizations that have pushed against unequal discipline for Black children for decades.

“In 2014 there was a lot of advocacy in stopping punitive discipline. I’m really disappointed that this is still an issue, but I’m thankful that the Governor is doing things at the state level,” said parent advocate, Jerlene Tatum.

Not everyone knows how to advocate for their children, but she said parents must step up and address unfair suspensions when it happens.

“When their kids get suspended they just accept it versus challenging or even questioning why their child was suspended,” she said.

Recently, she reviewed a video from a parent whose high schooler was confronted by staff to be removed from campus because he wouldn’t take off his hat. The student was suspended.

Since 2018, Tatum has been working with parents and the school district to promote parent involvement and address parent concerns at LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) forums. She has also worked with Public Advocates, Latinos in Action, Children’s Defense Fund and Black Lives Matter Long Beach toward strengthening parent engagement and building relationships with the school board.

Tatum, along with community and local organizations, worked with Public Advocates to ensure that deliverables against the LBUSD complaint were fulfilled. The suit alleged that $40 million of state education funding to improve service for low income students, English learners and foster students, was misspent, which was settled in 2018.

Elvia Cano, LBUSD Director of Communications and Public Information, said that Long Beach Unified is carefully reviewing the law and its implications. She said the plan is to share with their families and staff before SB 274 goes into effect on July 1, 2024.

“Willful Defiance as described in Education Code allowed for disproportionate use of student discipline. The decision aligns with Long Beach Unified’s Excellence and Equity Policy and commitment of putting students first,” she said in an email.

The bill, SB 274, (Sen. Nancy Skinner D-Berkeley) hopes to lower the dropout rate by addressing how willful defiance suspensions disproportionately impact students of color, those with disabilities, LGBTQ, homeless and foster care students. SB 274 extends Skinner’s earlier SB 419 bill that banned suspensions from K through grade 5, and 6-8 grades until 2025. The new bill impacts grades 6-12 to be applied next year.

“We have to educate our kids—not incarcerate them—and provide them with opportunities for learning and to succeed,” said State Superintendent Tony Thurmond earlier this year when he sponsored the bill. “Taking students out of learning time through suspensions and expulsions is proven to push them toward the criminal justice system. School districts trying to hide actual discipline rates through practices such as masking expulsions as transfers will not be tolerated.”

LBUSD School Counselor Kennedy Dixon said all available data points to unequal application of willful defiance for Black, Brown and special needs students, which resulted in various lawsuits over the years.

Dixon, the lead author of the Teachers Association of Long Beach School Counselors Organizing Committee, said their committee has been pushing their recommendations submitted last year calling for an increase in counselors to student ratio.

As the new SB 274 law comes full scale, he hopes to see the district initiate a complementary approach to the legislation that is proactive in assisting students with behavioral issues that would have subjected them to suspension in the first place.

At this point, he said no data is available to suggest that schools are safer when students are suspended for willful defiance.

“But there is plenty of data that suggests it can have a negative impact on the suspended students. SB 274 is a positive development that aims to address the unequal treatment of Black and Brown students and promote a more inclusive educational environment,” he said.

Understanding why students are acting out is crucial, he said, but also providing the necessary support and guidance from teachers and counselors. By addressing the root causes of their actions, he said students can overcome their challenges and succeed.

“[This] is why our unit has been urging the Long Beach Unified School District to implement school counseling standards so that school counselors can implement a Multi-tiered Multi-domain System of Support and provide evidence-based academic, social, and career development support at all schools,” he said.

Both traditional public schools and charter schools must adhere to the new law, which prohibits schools from suspending or expelling students for being tardy or truant, as well as other small offenses.

On her website, Skinner references a 2018 report “Get Out! Black Male Suspensions in California Public Schools” on the historic targeting of Black male students with willful defiance suspensions, representing 21% of all Black males in middle school, and 26% in high schools.

“SB 274 is based on a simple premise: Students belong in school. Suspending youth for low-level behavior issues leads to significant harm, including learning loss and a higher likelihood that affected students will drop out of school completely,” Sen. Skinner stated when she introduced the bill. “SB 274 puts the needs of students first. Instead of kicking them out of school, we owe it to students to figure out what’s causing them to act out and help them fix it.”

To see Get Out, Black Male Suspensions in California Public Schools, https://bit.ly/3ZYtbXG