suspension

When the parents or caregivers of young children start the San Bernardino County, California, CARE program, they are desperate. One mother said she hadn’t been able to go to the store in four years because of her 5-year-old son’s challenging behaviors.

Just hours before the end of this year’s legislative session, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law several far-reaching juvenile justice bills. Brown endorsed a bill that will prevent the transfer of 14- and 15-year-olds into adult criminal court; provide internet access for youth in foster care and the juvenile justice system; bar children ages 11 and younger from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court; and limit the amount of time youth who are deemed mentally incompetent can spend in juvenile halls, among other legislation.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this month on school discipline with a topline finding that “black students, boys and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools.”

Atlantic Philanthropies’ work in the area of school discipline reform is a particularly striking example of how limited-life philanthropy can play a key role in social movements for children and youth.

California’s Department of Education counts suspensions as incidents in which a student is temporarily barred from attending school (which excludes in-school suspensions). In 2013, nearly 330,000 students were suspended (5.1 per every 100 students); another 8,200 students (0.1 percent of all public school students) were expelled in California.