School discipline/parents’ rights

People call our office when they have tough problems and there’s no obvious place to go for an answer. Often these problems have to do with arbitrary/harsh/racist/etc. school discipline decisions. We do our best to suggest resources, but it’s always inadequate.

So I was delighted to see that Carolyn Goossen, of New America Media, has written a step-by-step guide for parents: ‘My Child Just Got Expelled’ – What Every California Parent Should Know About School Discipline http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=90f1622ef1ce3e2185d1ca373c003bd0&from=rss

I hope parents and everyone who works with parents will print this out and keep it handy for the next time you are faced with a situation you feel is unfair. The article ends with an important point – if you think unfair discipline is a pattern at your child’s school, you don’t have to deal with this only on a case-by-case basis. You can organize with other parents and demand change.

I would just add that this applies, not only to racial bias in discipline (which is a huge problem) but also to harsh/arbitrary discipline in general. It’s a long tradition in public education to decide kids are “no good” and declare war on them. It happens to kids of color disproportionately but it happens to kids of every background.

For some inspiration on the possibilities of organizing for a positive, supportive approach to discipline, see the article in our May ’07 issue, www.4children.org/news/507gse.htm