Moving Away From Zero Tolerance & Moving Toward Restorative Justice
Adopted in the late 1980’s to promote safe and productive schools by encouraging a no-nonsense approach to discipline, so-called "zero tolerance" policies didn't do any of that.
Daniela Rojas | University of Redlands
Zero-tolerance discipline policies disproportionately impact students of color by pushing them out of the classroom and isolating them from their peers. These policies were adopted in the late 1980’s to promote safe and productive schools by encouraging a no-nonsense approach to discipline. The idea, according to this model, would increase suspensions and expulsions as a way to combat a broad range of behaviors, all while deterring students from causing disruptions or maladaptive behaviors at their schools by treating all behaviors equally. There was always an assumption that there is no alternative to zero tolerance and these policies would automatically make schools safer by improving student behavior.
That never happened. Yet, instead, students of color have been consistently suspended at rates two to three times that of other students and leaving them to feel they are unfairly punished. While zero-tolerance policies are popular with many teacher advocacy groups there is no evidence supporting they’ve improved school safety - indeed, even American Federation of Teacher president Randi Weingarten, once a staunch supporter of zero tolerance policies, admitted she was wrong ("When you see that you're wrong, you have to say that you're wrong and apologize for it,"). What we do see is students being funneled, excessively, into the juvenile justice system. Plus, there is overwhelming evidence that zero-tolerance policies were actually making schools increasingly unsafe.
As a result, through recent policy movements, schools across the United States began turning away from zero tolerance policies. Unfortunately, teachers are still suspending students over willful defiance and disobedience-related actions, including talking back or not listening to instructions. Students of color were disproportionately targeted through school discipline policies when they would arrive at school unprepared, be disruptive, or engage in conflict. Interestingly, schools with a racial-ethnic makeup balanced between White and Black majorities were less likely to suspend for willful defiance compared to schools that had majority White or Black individuals as their student population.
State and national estimates gauge approximately 710,182 days of instruction were missed due to students being placed on out of school suspension in the 2017-18 school year. Coming in second place, California had 703,462 days of missed instruction due to out of school suspensions, with 10,121 schools in California we can estimate 69.5 days of instruction missed per school site. Missed instruction leads to lower student achievement, students fall behind, and lower graduation rates.
Conversely, school-based restorative justice is an alternative to addressing disciplinary events in a more equitable, inclusive, and respectful manner. It proactively creates a culture of community belonging where all members of the school community feel heard, valued, and empowered.
In recent years school districts in several states including California and Texas have adopted restorative practices instead to address student needs and school climate. Oakland Unified School District saw a decrease in disruption/willful defiance suspensions by 40 percent for Black students in one year. The discipline gap between White and Black students went down from 25 in 2011-12 to 19 in 2012-13. Academic outcomes included a 60 percent increase in graduation rates, a 128 percent increase reading levels, a 24 percent decrease in chronic absenteeism and a 56 percent decrease in school drop out rates.
Restorative justice is a philosophy that emphasizes addressing harmed relationships and unmet needs by bringing together involved parties to collectively work towards a resolution. This philosophy was inspired by Indigenous values and is a theory of justice that focuses on healing harm. Restorative approaches allow students to assume responsibility for their actions and provide them with the opportunity to be part of the repair process so all parties move forward together.
Policy Interventions
The first step forward is decreasing the reliance on zero tolerance and exclusionary policies to address student behavior. Improving school climate requires a cultural shift to address root causes in a culturally competent model that utilizes trauma-informed restorative practices. School discipline policies must be rewritten to promote restorative justice efforts throughout the whole school and at district levels.
Restorative practices should be the primary response to student behavior. Suspensions and expulsions should be used as a last resort. These efforts require increased funding for school districts to adequately build up the capacity of current and future educators. The intention should be interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline by having supports in place to support student needs in a holistic approach.