A bill put forward by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) would prohibit schools from suspending students for low-level offenses known as “willful defiance.”
The bill has been given the nod by the state Senate, and it's an education concept already in practice in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles school districts.
Under the proposed legislation, which is now in effect in five districts statewide, unwanted behaviors like refusing to remove a hat or failing to complete schoolwork are corrected, without resorting to suspension.
"We don't want to school to be a place where they're robbed of their joy," said Dr. Elaine Fogel Schneider, an author who's written about parenting,. "We want them to come and by happy to be in school."
The proposed legislation would eliminate willful defiance suspensions statewide for students in kindergarten through ninth grade and place a moratorium on willful defiance suspensions of high school students until 2025. Research finds willful defiance suspensions are disproportionately used to discipline minority students.
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At Fiesta Gardens Elementary School in San Mateo, school officials are following a similar model for resolving conflict. The school has an art therapist on staff to assist disruptive kids, for instance.
Teachers distribute green tickets to reinforce targeted behaviors and decrease unwanted conduct.
"When a student is making a good decision or is being respectful, we reward that by using a green ticket," said Alyssa Ortiz Khan, a Fiesta Gardens teacher.
Problem behavior is addressed with a team made up of the teacher, a parent, the principal, and perhaps a teacher who knew the student previously, according to Fiesta Gardens Elementary Principal Jeannette Ramirez.
"We all get together and design a plan and then come back and ask "how did that go?" explained Ramirez.