Washington Times: D.C.’s school budget not enough, say advocacy groups
CLC Policy Director Sharra Greer weighs in on the new DC Council budget, Student Fair Access to School legislation, 2014 Special Education Reforms and more.
The council also included $450,000 for schools to stop suspending or expelling students for nonviolent offenses and instead use “restorative justice” practices such as conflict mediation.
“We think that will lead to more kids in school, better educational outcomes, less discrimination and overall will improve for the schools,” said Sharra Greer, policy director of the Children’s Law Center.
According to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), black children in the District were 7.7 times more likely to be given an out-of-school suspension than their white peers in 2016 and 2017.
In addition, schools also are 3.4 times more likely to suspend black students in the District several times compared to white students, and black students account for 95.3 percent of all expulsions, despite only making up 67.6 percent of the city’s student population.
“We’re not even looking at the non-documented suspensions,” Ms. Greer said.