Interested to see the discussion -- study of school discipline in TX

[BrianFromWA]

https://www.phoenix.edu/news/feeds/...students-have-been-suspended-or-expelled.html

Are American schools too harsh when it comes to discipline? A new study by the Council of State Governments Justice Center has some people saying yes to that question. A review of the discipline records from the last 10 years of some 1 million Texas middle and high schoolers showed that about half included a suspension or expulsion. Yet only 3 percent of those punishments were required by state law; the others were based on the behest of school officials.

The reason why the study is problematic is due to the fact that the researchers also found that the suspensions and expulsions were doled out in a haphazard manner when schools, ability and race were considered. Even more impactful is the finding that 31 percent of the students who were disciplined even once ended up repeating a grade at least one time during their academic career. Only 40 percent of those punished 11 times or more ever graduated from high school.

“One of the most important takeaways from the report is learning that the school a student attends largely influences how, when, or if a student is removed from the classroom for disciplinary reasons,” said State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R), who is also chair of the Texas Senate Education Committee. “The data suggests that individual school campuses often have a pronounced influence over how often students are suspended or expelled.”

The study also found that students with educational disabilities as well as African Americans were “disproportionately disciplined for discretionary actions,” according to a press release. The researchers also found a relationship between suspensions and expulsions and the juvenile justice system. Of the close to 1 million students studied, some 15 percent were suspended 11 times or more, with nearly half of those students being involved in the juvenile justice system.

One state legislator says the findings highlight a need for Texas teachers to be better trained and supported in the classroom when it comes to discipline.

“We need to maintain realistic expectations of what educators alone can accomplish in today’s challenging classrooms,” said Senator John Whitmire (D), chair of the Texas Criminal Justice Committee. “At the same time, this report demonstrates that if we want our kids to do better in school and reduce their involvement in the juvenile justice system, we in the legislature need to continue looking into how teachers can be better supported and how the school discipline system can be improved.”

 

[jlprk]

Now that every school has a policeman hanging around looking for something to do, punishments are a lot more serious. With way too much money thrown into the legal system, they find more things to punish with longer sentences. Especially in Texas.

My 20-year-old was telling me just the other day that in his first month of high school they told all the students they'd go to jail if they did certain minor things that aren't illegal in the real world. He said it decreased their motivation to believe in school.

 

[blazerboy30]

My 20-year-old was telling me just the other day that in his first month of high school they told all the students they'd go to jail if they did certain minor things that aren't illegal in the real world. He said it decreased their motivation to believe in school.

Your 20-year-old is still in his first month of high school? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

[Blazed Mania 52]

Instead of worrying about what we should and shouldn't teach our children, especially between evolution and creationism, we should instead teach all children from a young age, the meaning of self-reliance and critical reasoning skills and then throw them the other material.

 

[THE HCP]

Your 20-year-old is still in his first month of high school? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

BAM! Well typed!

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

This scene is a response to a school teacher who beat a boy with his stick.