By Eddie Meyer
By Daniela Vega
By Nalini Gupta
By Eddie Meyer
Imagine this scenario: A student speaks out of turn in class and is immediately referred to the principal’s office then suspended from school for three days. This is the harsh reality of a catch-all school disciplinary code commonly known as “willful defiance” that causes California students to lose an estimated 250,000 days of instruction each year.All students have the right to a quality education regardless of who they are and what they look like. However, the overuse of the willful defiance punishment for minor misbehavior puts too many students on the path to failure, mostly students of color and students with disabilities. We know that suspending students for nonviolent incidents forces them to miss critical classroom time, causing many to fall behind and prompting some to drop out altogether.
Assistant Chief Nisleit must answer key questions to demonstrate the SDPD will ‘protect and serve’ all San Diegans fairly, equally and effectively under his leadership.Testimony of ACLU Senior Policy Strategist Christie Hill offers insights, raises questions at first of two City Council hearings to confirm next Chief of Police.
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