Build Awareness
Educate law makers, school boards,
principals, hearing officers, teachers, parents, and students.
Tell them 1) about the negative impact that
out-of-school
suspension has on students and 2) about the
ineffectiveness of low and zero tolerance polices at reducing misbehavior
and making schools safer.
For instance, you can print out our
factsheet
(click on link) and post it in your office, schools, or send it
by e-mail to people you think need to be informed.
Ask yourself and others if you think
students who are suspended and expelled are entitled to receive quality
supplemental and alternative education options.
Start
here by examining how other states deal
with alternative education.
Ask yourself if there is and if there
should be a distinction between discipline and punishment.
Know what the law says and understand what it does not say regarding school discipline
Become familiar with Washington's
Constitution which states that:
“It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample
provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.”
Const. art. IX, § 1.
art.
IX, § 1.
Become familiar with Washington statutory
law regarding school discipline. Start with
RCW 28A.600.
Know the school discipline regulations
created by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), one of
WA state's agencies that regulates public schools.
Start here with chapter
WAC 392-400.
Gain a working knowledge of how other
states have addressed the issue of school discipline and alternatives to
education.
A good place to start is
the Education Commission of the States
also check out their compilation of different states alternative
education policies:
Alternative Education: What States are Doing?
Advocate for Change
Know which legislators represent your district as well
as those legislators who are active in issues such as education, juvenile
justice, and child welfare:
Washington
State Legislature
Currently, Washington state does not have
a system to collect data correlating school discipline and race and
ethnicity. Where districts do collect data, the data shows that youth of
color are disproportionately disciplined and disciplined more harshly than
their white peers. In 2008, the Washington legislature failed to pass a bill
that would mandate that districts collect data related to school discipline.
Advocate for data
legislation in the future. Without this data, it is difficult to speak about
racial disproportionality in school discipline in anything, but anecdotal
terms. Data is a powerful tool for establishing that negative patterns in
school discipline exist and for fighting for the rights of students of
color.
The Washington ACLU
is actively looking at how systems can change to promote students' rights - contact the
ACLU for information about their
efforts to support them.
Ask the school board to clarify its interpretation of a particularly different WACs.
Support Evidence Based and Promising Practice Approaches to School Discipline
One e of
evidence-based school discipline practice is PBIS.
Try the links below for more information on PBIS
PBIS Home Page
www.pbis.org
PBIS in Illinois
www.pbisillinois.org
http://www.pbisillinois.org/Downloads/Annual%20Reports/FY07_Short_Rpt092407.pdf
PBIS in Maryland
End of year report -
www.pbismaryland.org/
Published Research on PBIS
Selected References from George Sugai
Is PBIS Evidence Based