Testimony on the Solutions Not Suspensions Bill

Good afternoon, everyone. 

I’m coming to you today representing the Education Council Consortium, as the chair of its charter accountability committee, but also as the current president of the Community Education Council of District 17, which spans from Prospect Heights to Brownsville, from Crown Heights to East Flatbush. 

I’m here to speak in favor of the solutions not suspensions act, not merely as a parent but as the CEC president in a district that has done this work. Under the leadership of our former superintendent, Dr. Clarence Ellis, who is currently the superintendent of the East Ramapo School District upstate, and my current Superintendent Shenean Lindsay who was his deputy, our district created a task force to address the disproportionality in how students from different demographics, nationalities, and lived experiences are supported or disciplined in different ways. 

In partnership with a now-defunct statewide program almost a decade ago, District 17 worked to help our school staff think differently about their interactions with students. As you can imagine, our district is extremely diverse—through nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, by ability, and beyond. 

In some cases we’ve seen the suspension process being used simply as an extraction tool to remove students who present as a challenge. At its worst, students with undiagnosed or diagnosed special needs that the school is ill equipped to address are simply suspended for minor infractions to get —and keep— them out of the classroom. Students whose mannerisms translated to disrespect to a staffer from a different cultural background might find themselves in the principal’s office and, ultimately, being sent home.

And the data bears this out. In a 2015 report from Columbia University, whose release coincided with the institution of our task force, researchers recognize that Black children are disproportionately removed from the classroom for minor infractions. But even there, we see inequity. In New York, Black boys were six times as likely to have a disciplinary case than their white counterparts; for Black girls, that number rises to ten.

Aside from the disruptive effects that this has on the parent who simply feels targeted—because they did not see where the ‘disrespect’ took place—this has significantly disruptive effects on the student’s education. Being removed from the classroom for an extended period of time is bad enough but, because it was a “punishment” no one is empowered to create tools to help the student catch up. This has a long-term and cascading effect on the student’s performance, the family’s relationship to the school community, and the way school staff treat the student. 

Our approach was simple: hand-crafting a culturally responsive approach rooted in equity for all students, fully inclusive of all identities and experiences, with the goal of increasing educational outcomes. The work was broad ranging, from helping parents learn how to secure appropriate support for their students, to developing new policies to handle conflict. We created a process that maintains a child’s connection to the school community instead of excommunicating them from it. 

A few fast facts about District 17: we have one of the largest, if not the largest, charter footprint in the borough. With 17 charter schools housed within our borders, we do not have a shortage of charter schools. As Dr. Ellis and Lindsay pushed forward, the charter schools located in our district presented as a stark contrast from the empathetic equity work we were doing. Families frequently left charters for our schools—with the drumbeat of recent reporting about charter efforts to self-control their own student population, I see why. They were more likely to see their identities respected, embraced, and welcomed in our schools. They saw the stability associated with schools invested in keeping children in the classroom, recognized that their children wouldn’t be “pushed out” or find themselves on a “must go” list, and chose us. 

And, with that stability, we saw dramatic improvement in our academic outcomes. The district presented with year over year improvement in math and ELA scores. Enrollment began to increase, too. Families see the work, hear the good news, and buy in. It is a net good.

So, having said all that, I am here to speak to the good that a bill like this represents, and the radical shift in the futures of children when we seek to not push them out, but pull them in with empathy and resources that speak to their needs. As a CEC member, it was exciting to hear educators talk about seeing and educating the whole child, meeting them where they are and bringing them to where the world needs them to be. As a parent, though? Watching a principal take my child, arm in arm, and say “we’re going to get you there together” still brings tears to my eyes. It doesn’t just empower the student, it empowers and, dare I say, comforts the parent. The babies will be alright.

Capping suspensions is necessary, essential, and vital. But it must come with an apparatus prepared to stand in the gaps if we want to keep every child in the classroom. And while I don’t believe I saw a funding mandate with this bill, there at least needs to be a collection of resources empowered and prepared to push in. 

I say to you, with fidelity, that this work has value, and has the capacity to change lives. I implore you, with fidelity, to support it. Our families are counting on you. Thank you.

​Erika Kendall