La. Pushed Out Report

t
t
Spring 2010

pushed Out
Harsh Discipline in Louisiana Schools
Denies the right to Education
NESRI
NatioNal EcoNomic aNd
Social rightS iNitiativE
A Focus on the recovery School
District in new Orleans
FFLIC
Families and Friends of Louisianas
Incarcerated Children
2010 National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) & Families and Friends of Louisianas Incarcerated Children (FFLIC)
About NESRI
The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) works with community organizations and social movements
to advance the principle that fundamental human needs, such as education, housing and health care, are basic human
rights. Towards this end, NESRI works with organizers, policy advocates and legal organizations to incorporate a human
rights perspective into their work and build human rights advocacy models tailored for the United States.
NESRIs Human Right to Education Program works with advocates and organizers to promote policy change in public
education using human rights standards and strategies. Human rights offer a framework for transforming our public
schools based on internationally recognized standards of equity, accountability, dignity, and community participation.
We believe the language and values of human rights are powerful tools for mobilizing and uniting communities to
hold governments accountable for guaranteeing the right to education. The Education Program generates human rights
documentation, analysis, advocacy, public education materials, and training workshops.
Contact NESRI: 212-253-1710, [email protected], www.nesri.org
About FFLIC
Families and Friends of Louisianas Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) is a statewide membership-based organization that
fghts for a better life for all of Louisianas youth, especially those involved in or targeted by the juvenile justice system.
As mothers and fathers, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and allies we believe in and implement a model
of organizing that is people and community centered, and is explicitly anti-racist. We engage in education, community
building, and leadership development.
The goal of FFLICs Stopping the School to Prison Pipeline (STPP) Campaign is to create safe schools for all of New
Orleans and Louisianas children by keeping kids off the streets, out of the juvenile justice system and in school where
they belong. FFLICs STPP campaign has identifed and is now challenging the policies that are pushing our children
out of school and hastening their entry into the juvenile--and eventually the criminal--justice system. FFLICs STPP
campaign is dedicated to fghting the historical inequalities, concentrated poverty, racial disparities in discipline, and
segregated education that are leading to pushout. We want to ensure that every child who enrolls in school graduates
with a high school diploma and lives up to their fullest potential. Our Campaigns are designed to personally and
politically transform individuals, families, and communities into even more powerful and loving forces so that together
we can transform currently oppressive systems and institutions into ones that uphold justice for our families.
Contact FFLIC: 504-522-5437, www.ffic.org
Pushed Out
Harsh Discipline in Louisiana Schools Denies the Right to Education
A Focus on the Recovery School District in New Orleans
By Elizabeth Sullivan and Damekia Morgan
Executive Summary i
1. Introduction 1
A National Perspective on Pushout
A Human Rights Framework for Education and Discipline
Methodology
2. The State of Education in Louisiana and New Orleans 5
Dismantling New Orleans Schools After Katrina
A Continuing Educational Crisis in New Orleans
3. Harsh and Excessive Suspensions and Expulsions 9
Suspensions 9
o Suspensions in Recovery School District Public Schools
o Implementation of the New RSD Student Code of Conduct
o Excessive Suspensions for Minor Misbehavior
o Impact on Education
Expulsions 13
o Expulsions in Recovery School District Public Schools
o Denial of Education through Excessive Expulsions
o Alternative Schools
Disproportionate Punishment of Students of Color 17
4. Policing and Criminalization 19
School-Based Arrests
Prison-Like School Environments
5. Charter Schools and Pushout 21
Underreported and Distorted Disciplinary Data
Exclusion of Students with Special Needs
6. Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline 24
Positive Behavior Support Approaches
Restorative Practices
Reforming State Laws

7. Recommendations 27
Louisiana State Legislature
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and State Superintendent Statewide
Recommendations
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, State Superintendent and New
Orleans School Systems
Endnotes 30
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the students, parents and advocates who gave their time and shared their stories through
surveys and interviews for this report, including Ashana Bigard, Bridgette Butler, Melissa Losch, Thena
Robinson, Karran Harper Royal, and Eden B. Heilman.
A special thank you to Catherine Albisa, Sarah Covert, Teresa Falgoust, Barbara Ferguson, Pam Nath and Gina
Womack for editing this report, and to Christine Sullivan for her assistance with design and formatting.
Additionally, we would like to thank the 21st Century Foundation, Audrey Irmas Foundation for Social
Justice, Ford Foundation, Frances Lear Foundation, Gulf Coast Fund, Libra Foundation, Marguerite Casey
Fund, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Ms. Foundation, Threshold Foundation, U.S. Human Rights Fund and
the Youth Justice Funding Collaborative, for supporting our work. We also want to thank our individual
donors for their support of our work.
The goal of the public educational system is to
provide learning environments and experiences, at
all stages of human development, that are humane,
just, and designed to promote excellence in order
that every individual may be afforded an equal
opportunity to develop to his full potential.
Preamble, Article 8, Louisiana State Constitution
After a disaster of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina,
protecting the right to a quality education for all
students regardless of race or income becomes an
indispensable part of the path to recovery for the
children of the City of New Orleans. Every child
has a human right to learn in a safe and supportive
school environment that protects human dignity.
1

Yet a constant drumbeat of harmful and punitive
approaches to discipline in New Orleans, including
excessive suspensions, expulsions and school arrests,
effectively denies these rights for thousands of young
people, in particular children of color and children
in poor communities. New Orleans human rights
crisis in education reflects a broader crisis in Louisiana
and across the nation, often referred to as school
pushout.
In the face of this crisis, human rights declarations and
treaties written with U.S. leadership, like the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, call on schools to adopt
more constructive approaches to discipline and ensure
that students and parents have the right to participate
in developing and implementing education polices.
2

Schools must eliminate all forms of discrimination
in the use of discipline policies and ensure that all
children receive a quality education and are treated
with dignity regardless of their race, gender, socio-
economic background, disability or other status.
3

Research has shown that models, such as school-
wide positive behavior support, restorative practices
and conflict resolution, can protect students right
to education by reducing violence and conflict in
schools, improving learning, helping students develop
good social relationships, and involving students,
parents and communities in finding the solutions.
4

These approaches provide educators with the tools to
address the underlying causes of misbehavior and meet
students needs.
Discipline and pushout in Louisiana
In Louisiana over 86,000 students are suspended out of
school and over 7,000 are expelled each year.
5
State laws
and local school district policies rely on these punitive
practices to respond to minor instances of disruption
and conflict ranging from fighting to disrespecting
school staff to willful disobedience.
6
Suspensions
and expulsions for these vague and subjective offenses
are applied unevenly by schools, targeting students of
color, students from poor communities and students
with disabilities at higher rates.
7
For example, Louisiana
schools are more than twice as likely to suspend
African American students as white students.
8
Schools
also increasingly involve security guards and police in
disciplinary matters, resulting in arrests for problems
once dealt with by educators.
Executive Summary i
Executive Summary
I advocated for a Jefferson Parish student who
had been out of school for three weeks awaiting
an expulsion hearing. After speaking with him
it became clear to me how inappropriate it was
for this student to be out of school, especially
since he wanted to be in school. He was expelled
because of the 3 strikes and you are out rule. He
had been suspended once for willful disobedience
bouncing a basketball when he was told to stop;
a second time for a uniform violation his shirt
was too small so he could not keep it tucked in his
pants; and a third time for selling candy at school.
It was upon the third suspension that he was
recommended for expulsion.
- Bridgette Butler, Juvenile Justice Project of
Louisiana, Youth Advocate
These harsh discipline and safety policies contribute to
a range of factors that push young people out of school
and down a pipeline to dropout, unemployment and
prison. National research compiled by the American
Psychological Association has found that rather than
deter misbehavior, suspensions and expulsions are
linked to an increased likelihood of future behavior
problems, academic difficulty, detachment from
school and dropping out.
9
In Louisiana, only 65.9%
of students graduate from high school in four years,
and nearly 16,000 middle and high school students
dropout each year.
10
new Orleans After Hurricane Katrina
In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the City
of New Orleans and dispersed public school children
and their families across the country, state policy-
makers swooped in, dismantling and replacing the
public school system with a patchwork of state-run
public schools, locally run public schools and charter
schools. Today, 57% of public school students in New
Orleans attend charter schools.
11
The other 43% attend
traditional public schools. This new fragmented system
continues to punish and exclude low-income students
of color. In the state-run Recovery School District in
New Orleans, suspensions in traditional, district-run
public schools are among the highest in the state.
12
Discipline rates in charter schools are more difficult
to determine due to a lack of transparency and
inconsistency in data.
13
But available information
shows that charter schools are excluding and pushing
out students with special needs and behavioral
challenges through admissions processes, transfers
and inappropriate expulsions.
14
Neither traditional
public schools nor charter schools are protecting
children from pushout. Furthermore, with most
public schools in New Orleans run by the State or by
charter companies (many from outside of Louisiana),
New Orleans youth, parents and communities are
denied their right to participate in decisions affecting
their schools.
15
Summary of Findings
Pushed Out examines current policies and practices in
New Orleans and Louisiana public schools that impact
school climate, discipline and educational outcomes for
students. The report analyzes suspension and expulsion
data from the Louisiana Department of Education
from the 2007-2008 school year, the most recent data
available from the state. The report also analyzes data
obtained from the Recovery School District (RSD)
in New Orleans and the Orleans Parish Juvenile
Court. To document the perspectives of students and
parents, FFLIC and NESRI also conducted surveys
16

of 95 middle and high school students attending
public schools in the Recovery School District in the
2008-2009 school year, and interviewed parents and
advocates about their experiences with schools in
Louisiana. The data reveal a human rights crisis in
Louisiana schools.
Suspensions
In Louisiana, already higher-than-average suspension
rates have been on the rise over the past decade as
state and local zero-tolerance policies have imposed
harsh punishments for minor misbehavior. The total
number of students suspended out of school at least
once per year increased from 75,601 (9.7% of students)
in 2000-2001, to 86,120 (12.1% of students) in 2007-
2008.
17
This is almost twice the national rate of 6.9%.
18

In-school suspensions also increased from 72,473
(9.3%) in 2000-2001, to 91,649 (12.9%) in 2007-2008.
ii Executive Summary
Incr eas ing S us pens ion R ates in
Louis iana
8%
9%
10%
11%
12%
13%
14%
2000 2002 2004 2006 2007
Number of Students Suspended as a Percent of Total Enrollment
Out-of-School Suspensions In-School Suspensions
In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, suspensions
in the Recovery School District (RSD) skyrocketed and
have remained extremely high:
In RSD district-run public schools, 3,537
students, or 1 in 4 students, were suspended
out of school at least once in 2007-2008
(approximately 28.8% of students).
19
This
is more than twice the statewide rate in
Louisiana and over four times the national
rate.
20
In the RSD, students are suspended for 1 to 5
days, and many receive multiple suspensions.
In the 2008-2009 school year, when including
multiple suspensions received by the same
students, there were a total of 6,702 out-of-
school suspensions issued in RSD district-run
public schools with a total student population
of 12,871.
21
This breaks down to an average
of 186 out-of-school suspensions each week
from just 33 RSD public schools.
22
Our survey findings demonstrate that these suspensions
have devastating consequences for youth. Among the
RSD students surveyed for this report, 60% had been
suspended.
23
Of those students:
Only 8% had been suspended once in the past
three years, while 28% had been suspended 2
to 3 times, and 37% had been suspended 4 or
more times.
Over 70% said at least one of their suspensions

was for minor misbehavior, including 42% for
disruptive or disrespectful behavior, 16% for
having clothing or items prohibited by school
rules, and 12% merely for being late to class
or school.
Over 37% of students said they fell behind in
school after their suspension, and 25% said
they felt less motivated to learn after returning
to school.
Expulsions
Expulsions in Louisiana have also increased over the
past decade. The total number of students expelled
in a single school year increased from 5,894 (0.8% of
students) in 2000-2001 to 7,432 (1.1% of students)
in 2007-2008.
24
This is five times the national rate of
0.2%.
25
In the RSD, expulsion rates are extremely high when
compared to other districts in Louisiana and to
national rates:
In the 2007-2008 school year, 323 students
(2.6%) were expelled from RSD schools,
almost twice the statewide rate, and ten times
the national rate.
26
While 323 students were ultimately expelled
from the RSD, nearly three times as many, 808
Executive Summary iii

Out-of-S chool S us pens ions in 2007-2008
in R S D, L ouis iana and Nationwide
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
National Louisiana
Statewide
Recovery School
District
Percent of Students Suspended
In the state-run Recovery School
District in New Orleans, 1 out of
every 4 students in district-run public
schools is suspended out of school at
least once each year, more than twice
the statewide rate and four times the
national rate.
Source: Louisiana State Department of Education, District Compos-
ite Report 2007-2008.
students total, were recommended for expulsion
by school principals.
27
When recommended
for expulsion, students are removed from
their school pending an expulsion hearing,
sometimes missing days, weeks or even months
of school before their hearing is held. The
following year in 2008-2009, 1,016 students
were recommended for expulsion in the RSD
and 396 expulsions were upheld.
28
Among the RSD students surveyed for this report,
40% had been recommended for expulsion.
29
Of those
students:
Over 68% were sent to an alternative school
and 21% to a juvenile facility following their
expulsion hearing.
Only 5% reported receiving any counseling or
mediation during their expulsion.
Disproportionate punishment of Students
of Color
In schools throughout Louisiana, punitive
and exclusionary discipline practices
disproportionately target students of color and
students in poor communities. Statewide, African
American students make up 44.9% of the student
population, but 68.2% of suspensions and 72.5%
of expulsions.
30
Schools are 2.6 times as likely to
suspend, and 3.2 times as likely to expel, African
American students as white students.
31
When we compare districts across the state of Louisiana,

we find that school districts with a larger percentage of
African American students and students in poverty
utilize more punitive and exclusionary discipline
practices and have higher rates of suspension and
expulsion.
32
Less affluent school districts also usually
have fewer preventive disciplinary systems in place and
fewer resources for providing counseling and conflict
resolution.
33

In RSD public schools, where 98% of students
are African American and 79% of students are
low-income (eligible for free lunch), 28.8%
of students were suspended out of school in
2007-2008.
34

In St. Tammany Parish, where only 18.5%
of students are African American and only
42.3% are low-income, a mere 8% of students
were suspended out of school. In St. Charles
Parish, where only 36.4% of students are
African American and 45.1% are low-income,
only 4.1% of students were suspended out of
school.
35
Yet even within the mostly white, affluent districts
that have lower rates of suspension overall, African
American students are still suspended at higher rates
than their white peers.
In St. Tammany Parish, schools are 2.8 times
more likely to suspend African American
students than white students. In St. Charles
Parish, schools are 2.6 times more likely to
iv Executive Summary
E xpuls ions in 2007-2008
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
National Louisiana
Statewide
Recovery
School District
Percent of Students Expelled
Dis proportionate S us pens ion and E xpuls ion of
African American S tudents in L ouis iana
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Student
Population
Suspensions Expulsions
Percent of Students by Race
African American
Students
White Students
suspend African
American students
than white students.
36
Research has shown that
higher rates of suspension
and expulsion among African
American students are not the
result of African American
students engaging in higher
levels of disruptive behavior.
37

African American students are
more likely to be punished
for subjective offenses such
as disrespect, excessive noise and loitering, all of
which are dependent on the judgment of a teacher or
administrator, while white students are more likely to
be punished for concrete infractions such as smoking,
leaving without permission, and vandalism.
38

Furthermore, schools impose more severe punishments
on African American students than white students for
the same infractions.
39

policing and Criminalization
Before Hurricane Katrina in 2004-2005, the Orleans
Parish School Board spent approximately 3 million
dollars on security with a student population of
about 65,000.
40
After the storm in 2006-2007, before
many families had even returned to New Orleans,
the Recovery School District (RSD) spent 20 million
dollars on security with a student population of only
about 9,500 in RSD direct-run schools.
41
Put another
way, Orleans Parish School Board spent about $46 per
student for security in the 2004-2005 school year, while
the Recovery School District spent over $2,100 per
student in 2006-2007, creating an extreme prison-like
environment in schools.
By the 2008-2009 school year, the RSD had cut
spending on security to 8.7 million dollars with a
student population of about 12,700 in RSD direct-run
schools.
42
Even though the district has cut its security
spending by more than half, the RSD still spent $690
per student on security in 2008-2009 approximately
15 times as much as OPSBs pre-Katrina spending per
student.
43

As a result, a criminalizing environment remains in
schools. Today RSD has about 77 School Resource
Officers in just 29 RSD public non-charter elementary
and high schools and 4 alternative schools.
44
New
Orleans Police Officers also intervene in school
disciplinary matters and school-related arrests are
common for even non-criminal activity. Based on a
sample of data from the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court,
from September 2007 to January 14, 2009, there were
492 school related arrests at 54 public and charter
schools.
45
Among students surveyed for this report, when asked
about the impact of heavy security presence on learning
and the school environment:
Over 56% of students said that security guards
never or rarely make students feel more safe in
schools, while 17% said they sometimes make
Executive Summary v
Before Hurricane Katrina, the Orleans Parish School Board
spent about $46 per student for school security. In 2006-
2007, RSD spent $2,100 per student on security. In the
2008-2009 school year, the RSD direct-run schools spent
$690 per student 15 times the pre-Katrina spending on
school security.
Source: Ralph Adamo, NOLAs Failed Education Experiment. August 15, 2007. Recovery School District,
FY 2009 Operating Budget, June 18, 2008. Paula Devlin, Security guards laid off from Recovery School
District, The Times-Picayune, May 28, 2009.
FFLIC S tudent S urvey: Do s ec urity guards
make s tudents feel more s afe in s c hools ?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Never or
Rarely
Sometimes Always
Percent of Survey Respondents
vi Executive Summary
students feel more safe, and only 17% said they
always make students feel more safe.
More than 62% of students said that security
guards and police officers never, rarely or only
sometimes treat students with respect.

Charter Schools and pushout
According to limited data available from the state,
suspension and expulsion rates in charter schools
in New Orleans appear to be lower than in RSDs
traditional public schools. In the 30 charter schools
operated by the RSD, for example, 16.5% of students
were suspended out of school in the 2007-2008 school
year, compared to 28.8% in RSD public schools.
46
Data
on expulsions is not reported consistently.
47

Preliminary research on charter schools, supported
by the experiences of advocates and parents, suggests
that part of the reason for fewer suspensions in charter
schools may be that students with behavioral problems
are excluded or pushed out in other ways. Reports from
parents, educators and even RSD officials demonstrate
that charter schools are forcing children out because
of their behavior by suggesting that parents transfer
their children to traditional public schools rather than
accept a suspension or expulsion on their records.
48
In
other cases, charter school principals themselves have
revealed that data published by the Louisiana State
Department of Education has vastly underreported the
number of expulsions in charter schools, as well as in
some traditional public schools, in the RSD.
49
Charter schools are also excluding and pushing
out students with special needs. Special education
students, for example, make up about 12% of the
student population in traditional public schools in New
Orleans, compared to only 8% in the charter schools.
50
Many charter schools do not provide special education
services and discourage parents from enrolling their
children.
51
recommendations
As the negative impacts of zero-tolerance discipline
and pushout are being felt in communities across the
country, growing numbers of schools and districts are
adopting positive, alternative approaches to discipline.
In this report we highlight two of these alternative
approaches: school-wide Positive Behavior Support
approaches and restorative practices. Both approaches
include: preventive strategies to create positive
school climates, training for teachers in classroom
management and conflict resolution techniques, and
interventions that serve as alternatives to removal and
suspension. The implementation of these positive
models in schools across the country has led to up to
50% reductions in suspensions, as well as increases in
academic performance and teacher satisfaction.
52

In Louisiana, recent state legislation and several
district-level discipline codes, including the Recovery
School Districts Student Code of Conduct adopted
in 2008, have already incorporated positive behavior
supports into discipline policies. But many schools are
not adequately implementing these models, and lack
the resources, technical assistance and support to do so
effectively. Moreover, zero-tolerance policies sit side-
by-side with these new approaches undermining their
efficacy. State and local policy-makers must repeal
these zero-tolerance policies, ensure that schools have
access to needed resources, and create accountability
measures to monitor the effectiveness of positive
approaches.
Pushed Out makes several recommendations for state
and local policy-makers. Key recommendations
include:
The State Legislature should pass legislation
to reverse zero-tolerance policies and reduce
out-of-school suspensions and expulsions,
including by deleting vague infractions/
offenses, such as willful disobedience, from
the state statutes list of infractions that can
result in suspensions, and reducing the total
number of days a student can be suspended.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary

Education, State Superintendent and local
school districts should implement preventive
and positive approaches to discipline and best
practices for the use of law enforcement in
schools.
The State Legislature and Department of
Education should ensure that schools have
the necessary resources to fully implement
positive approaches to discipline by increasing
the Minimum Foundation Program funding
annually and identifying additional funding
streams for public education.

Education and State Superintendent should
hire or contract a compliance officer for the
implementation of Positive Behavior Support
approaches.
The State Legislature and Department of
Education should return New Orleans schools
to a locally controlled school board and put
in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure
transparency in and local accountability over
charter schools.
By advocating and organizing to stop children from being pushed out of school, we are not advocating for chaotic
or disruptive classrooms or to weaken discipline laws. Rather, we are fghting to strengthen state and local laws
to actually address student behavior, instead of simply responding to infractions. Our goal is to make sure that
all schools use positive behavior support strategies that prevent disruption, reduce confict and improve academic
outcomes while decreasing the number of suspensions and expulsions and reducing the amount of time a child is
out of school without educational services.
Our commitment to support children who are being pushed out of school unjustly is based on both quantitative
and qualitative information, including stories from parents, teachers, and behavior specialists who see the
devastating impact of pushout everyday and know that there are better ways to address student behavior. Most
important of all, our commitment is based on the human rights and moral obligations to educate all children at
all times.
- Damekia Morgan, Families and Friends of Louisianas Incarcerated Children
EnDnOTES
1
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26, adopted by UN
General Assembly in 1948. Eleanor Roosevelt was the U.S. representative
to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and a lead drafter of the
UDHR. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Articles 28 and 29,
entry into force September 2, 1990, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/
pdf/crc.pdf. The CRC has been ratifed by 193 countries. The United States
(U.S.) has signed but not ratifed the CRC.
2
Id. United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General
Comment 1, The Aims of Education, CRC/GC/2001/1, http://www.unhchr.
ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(symbol)/CRC.GC.2001.1.En?OpenDocument.
3
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), entry into force January 4 1969, http://www2.
ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/cerd.pdf. The U.S. signed and ratifed CERD in
1994, which means that the U.S. is bound by law to the treaty.
4
Russell Skiba et al., Are Zero Tolerance Policies Effective in the Schools?
An Evidentiary Review and Recommendations, American Psychological
Association (APA) Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2006, http://www.apa.org/
pubs/journals/releases/ZTTFReportBODRevisions5-15.pdf.
5
Louisiana Department of Education, District Composite Reports
2007-2008, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/pair/1613.aspx. (Available for
download in excel fle.) The total number of students enrolled in Louisiana
schools was 681,038.
6
Louisiana Revised Statute RS 17:416, 2009, http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/
lss.asp?doc=81024.
7
U.S. Department of Education, Offce of Civil Rights Data Collection 2006,
http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Projections_2006.aspx.
8
Id.
9
Skiba et al., APA Report, 2006.
10
Louisiana Department of Education, 2007-2008 Louisiana State Education
Progress Report, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/uploads/14235.pdf.
11
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Top 10 Charter Communities
Executive Summary vii
by Market Share, Fourth Annual Edition, October 2009, http://www.
publiccharters.org/fles/publications/MarketShare_P4.pdf.
12
Louisiana State Department of Education, District Composite Report
2007-2008. (Based on analysis of Student Participation school level data
available for download in excel fle compiled for the 33 RSD direct-run,
non-charter schools in the 2007-2008 school year.)
13
Sarah Carr, Students expelled from RSD charter schools disappear in
state records, The Times-Picayune, February 09, 2009, http://www.nola.
com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/students_expelled_from_rsd_cha.html.
14
PBS News Hour, New Orleans Charter Schools Produce Mixed Results,
PBS, May 6, 2009. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june09/
nolacharter_05-06.html.
15
Bill Quigley, Part I: New Orleanss Children Fighting for the Right to
Learn, Truthout Report, August 2007, http://www.truthout.org/article/bill-
quigley-part-i-new-orleanss-children-fghting-right-learn.
16
The surveys were not gathered from a representative sample of New
Orleans public school students, but rather from students that were more
likely to have been involved in disciplinary incidents in the past. Therefore,
one third of the surveys were collected from an Alternative School where
students are sent during the term of a disciplinary removal. Those students
had been previously suspended and/or expelled from RSD middle schools.
Information on the breakdown of survey respondents is provided on page
4. In some cases, survey responses do not add up to 100% because some
students left individual responses blank. Regarding suspensions, some
answers add up to more than 100% because students listed multiple answers
for different suspensions.
17
Louisiana Department of Education, Education Progress Reports and
District Composite Reports 2000-2001 through 2007-2008. During the
same period, the total number of students enrolled in Louisiana schools
decreased from 741,533 to 681,038.
18
Offce of Civil Rights Data Collection 2006.
19
non-charter schools in the 2007-2008 school year, http://www.doe.state.
la.us/lde/pair/1613.aspx.) Suspension rates are based on total enrollment in
schools reported as of February 2008.
20
21
Data obtained from the Recovery School District, RSD District-Run
Schools, 2008-2009.
22
Id. Calculation based on a school year of 36 weeks.
23
The following fndings are based on the results of 95 surveys collected
by FFLIC from middle and high school students in 15 RSD public schools.
Numbers and percentages do not add up to 100% for all survey questions
because some respondents left individual questions blank. Regarding
suspensions, some answers add up to more than 100% because students
listed multiple answers for different suspensions.
24
Louisiana State Department of Education, Education Progress Reports
and District Composite Reports 2000-2001 through 2007-2008.
25
Offce of Civil Rights Data Collection, 2006.
26
Data obtained from the Recovery School District, Recommended
Expulsions/Upheld Expulsions/Transferred Expulsions, 2007-2008.
27
Id.
28
Schools, 2008-2009.
29
The following fndings are based on the results of 95 surveys collected by
FFLIC from middle and high school students in 15 RSD public schools.
30
Agenda for Children, 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book on Louisianas
Children, 2009, http://www.agendaforchildren.org/2009databook/
louisianakidscount2009.pdf.
31
Id
32
Louisiana Department of Education, District Composite Reports, 2007-
2008.
33
Open Society Institute-Baltimore, Putting Kids Out of School: Whats
Causing High Suspension Rates and Why They Are Detrimental to Students,
Schools, and Communities, September 2008, http://www.soros.org/
initiatives/baltimore/articles_publications/articles/suspension_20080123/
whitepaper2_20080919.pdf.
34
2008.
35
Louisiana Department of Education, District Composite Reports. 2007-
2008.
36
Agenda for Children, 2009.
37
Open Society Institute-Baltimore, September 2008.
38
Id.
39
Russell Skiba et al., Discipline is Always Teaching: Effective Alternatives
to Zero Tolerance in Indianas Schools, Indiana Youth Services Association,
Education Policy Briefs, Vol. 2 (3), 2004. Pedro Noguera, Preventing and
Producing Violence: A Critical Analysis of Responses to School Violence,
Harvard Educational Review, 65 (2), 1995.
40
Ralph Adamo, NOLAs Failed Education Experiment. August 15,
2007, http://www.soros.org/resources/multimedia/katrina/projects/
PublicEducation/story_FailedExperiment.php.
41
Id.
42
Recovery School District, FY 2009 Operating Budget, June 18, 2008, http://
www.rsdla.net/Libraries/Budget_Finance/FY_2009-_RSD_OPERATING_
BUDGET.sfb.ashx.
43
Spending per student was calculated by dividing 8.7 million by the total
student population in RSD direct-run schools (12,700 students).
44
Paula Devlin, Security guards laid off from Recovery School District,
The Times-Picayune, May 28, 2009, http://www.nola.com/news/index.
ssf/2009/05/security_guards_laid_off_from.html.
45
Data obtained from the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, 2007-2009.
46
available for download in excel fle compiled for the 30 RSD charter schools
in the 2007-2008 school year, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/pair/1613.
aspx.)
47
48
com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/students_expelled_from_rsd_cha.html..
49
Id.
50
Louisiana State Department of Education, District Composite Reports,
2007-2008.
51
PBS News Hour, May 6, 2009.
52
Illinois Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports Network, 2006-07
Progress Report. http://www.pbisillinois.org/; Floridas Positive Behavior
Support Project Annual Report 2007-2008; http://fpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/index.
asp; Sharon Lewis, Ed., Improving School Climate: Findings from Schools
Implementing Restorative Practices, International Institute for Restorative
Practices, May 19, 2009. http://www.iirp.org/pdf/IIRP-Improving-School-
Climate.pdf.
viii Executive Summary
The preamble to Article 8 of the Louisiana State
Constitution,
53
which requires the legislature to establish
and maintain a public school system, declares:

The goal of the public educational system is to
provide learning environments and experiences, at
all stages of human development, that are humane,
just, and designed to promote excellence in order
that every individual may be afforded an equal
opportunity to develop to his full potential.
Preamble, Article 8, Louisiana State Constitution
This vision for education is deeply valued in American
society and is also recognized as a fundamental
human right in international treaties and declarations,
including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and Convention on the Rights of the Child.
54
Like the
Louisiana Constitution, these human rights treaties
and declarations, developed with U.S. leadership, insist
that local, state and federal governments provide all
children with an education aimed at the development
of the childs personality, talents and mental and
physical abilities to their fullest potential.
55
As part of
meeting this responsibility, schools must create learning
environments that protect the dignity of every child. In
particular, the Convention on the Rights of the Child
states that school discipline must be administered in a
manner consistent with the childs human dignity.
56

Yet in Louisiana and throughout the nation, harsh and
excessive discipline and safety policies contribute to
an educational crisis in our country where 1.3 million
young people dropout of school each year
57
and millions
more receive a substandard education. Children are
pushed out of school and into unemployment, poverty
and the juvenile and criminal justice system. Referred to
as the school to prison pipeline by growing numbers
of parents, youth, advocates and educators around
the country, these polices and practices threaten our
children, our families and our communities, and violate
fundamental human rights to education and dignity.
A national perspective on pushout
A range of factors push students out of school and
contribute to the school to prison pipeline. Schools lack
adequate resources to support teachers and students,
and allow a culture of low expectations and bias
against youth of color and poor youth to undermine
educational outcomes.
58
Children with special needs,
including students with disabilities, students that speak
English as a second language, children in foster care
and homeless youth do not receive the resources they
need and are entitled to by law. A focus on high-stakes
testing narrows the curriculum and gives schools the
incentive to push out students who do not perform
well on tests.
59
At the same time, unjust and excessive
suspensions and expulsions deny students access
to education and ignore their academic, social and
emotional needs.
60
The presence of police and security
guards in schools create prison-like environments that
psychologically orient youth towards prison and lead
1. Introduction
Introduction 1
In most cases expulsions are a way to hide a
schools failure to address the educational needs of
students. Our current education system is fawed
by design as it focuses far too much on high stakes
testing to measure academic success. As a result,
schools are compelled to expel and push out
problem students in an effort to meet state-wide
performance standards.
Whenever a student misses a day in school, no
matter what the reason is, he or she misses out on
valuable lessons and instructional time. Many
schools lack the resources to build in supportive
services to help catch these students up when they
return to school. Educators need to think more
critically about alternative discipline strategies
that can ensure that students remain in school.
- Thena Robinson, Southern Poverty Law Center,
Attorney
to school arrests for behavior that used to be dealt with
by educators.
61

The national trend towards implementing harsh,
punitive discipline and safety policies began in 1994 with
the passage of the federal Gun Free Schools Act, which
required zero-tolerance suspension or expulsion for
offenses such as having a weapon or committing serious
acts of violence in schools.
62
Over time, as states and
school districts implemented their own policies, they
expanded the scope of zero-tolerance to include harsh
punishment for far less serious misbehavior, including
classroom disruptions, fghts, dress code violations and
even being late to school.
63
Nationally in 2006, more
than 3.3 million students were suspended out of school
and 102,000 were expelled, a 9% increase in suspensions
and a 5% increase in expulsions since 2000.
64
Studies
have shown that the most serious infractions, such as
drugs or weapons possession, generally account for less
than 5% of suspensions.
65

Proponents of zero-tolerance cite the imperative to
make schools safe and reduce violence and misbehavior
in schools. Yet studies have found that punitive, zero-
tolerance approaches to discipline are ineffective for
preventing or reducing misbehavior. On the contrary,
they can even reinforce and lead to future misbehavior,
66
putting students at greater risk of failing their classes,
being retained in grade, becoming truant, dropping out
of school and becoming involved with the juvenile and
criminal justice systems.
67

Over the past decade, school districts have also increased
the number of school resource offcers, police offcers,
metal detectors, and security cameras in schools.
Between 1999 and 2007, the percent of students across
the country reporting regular police or security presence
in their schools increased from 54% to 69%.
68
Police
personnel are patrolling school hallways, handcuffng,
arresting, and referring students to the juvenile justice
system for relatively minor infractions, such as petty
school fghts or disobeying staff, all problems formerly
handled by teachers and principals directly.
69
The
imposition of criminal penalties for these non-criminal
behaviors both violates basic human rights principles
and is counter to proven strategies for reducing at-risk
behavior. As shown by the American Psychological
Association study, classroom management techniques,
gang prevention programs, mediation, and confict
resolution are more effective for reducing violence and
disciplinary incidents.
70

Punitive policies and practices affect all young people,
but disproportionately target children of color and
children in poor communities. For example, nationally
in 2006, African American students made up 17.1% of
the overall student population, but 37.4% of students
suspended out of school.
71
Studies have also found
that schools punish African American students more
severely than white students for the same infractions.
72

There is a strong link between harsh discipline, dropout
and incarceration. Students with multiple suspensions
are three times more likely to drop out by 10th grade
than students who have not been suspended.
73
Youth
who drop out of high school are three times more likely
to be incarcerated in their lifetimes.
74
Roughly 56% of
African American youth in the juvenile justice system
report a prior school suspension.
75
Dropout carries a
heavy individual and societal cost. For example, leading
2 Introduction
What is the School to Prison Pipeline?
Families and Friends of Louisianas Incarcerated Children (FFLIC)
FFLIC defnes the school to prison pipeline as the systematic and institutional approach to depriving poor
people of color (in Louisiana this applies primarily to African Americans) a right to an equitable and quality
education; the deliberate approach to using poor people of color to fll the Prison Industrial Complex; and
continued intentional efforts to make poor people of color feel inferior to what is deemed the superior race. This
is done by pushing kids out of school through unjust suspensions and expulsions, high-stakes testing, the lack
of consistently available educational resources, denial of special education services, lowered expectations, zero-
tolerance, and mentally preparing kids for prison by creating prison-like environments in the schools through
the overuse of police and security guards.
economists have estimated that increasing high school
graduation rates would decrease violent crime by 20%,
and property crime by 10%.
76

A Human rights Framework for
Education and Discipline
Human rights standards recognized in international
treaties provide a framework for assessing the intent
and impact of educational policies and holding our
school systems accountable. The discipline policies
and practices that contribute to the school to prison
pipeline and its devastating impacts on children are
fundamentally at odds with basic human rights to
education and dignity. The Convention on the Rights
of the Child, an important human rights treaty adopted
widely throughout the world, recognizes that discipline
should be part of the educational process, developing
the social skills of students, encouraging learning,
increasing attendance and engagement in school, and
protecting the dignity and safety of students.
77
With
these intended positive effects in mind, the Convention
on the Rights of the Child calls on school systems to:
Ensure each childs right to education - Schools
must work to keep all students in school,
avoiding punishments that disrupt the
learning process or deny access to education,
and providing services and resources to meet
students needs;
Promote the full development of the child
Schools should use discipline to help students
learn positive behavior skills, resolve conficts
in a non-violent manner, and create good social
relationships to help them develop mentally,
socially and emotionally;
Ensure the dignity of students Schools must
use discipline policies and practices that
protect children from harm or humiliation,
create a safe and humane environment, avoid
punishment for behavior that does not cause
serious harm to the child or others, and avoid
arrest and criminalization;
Ensure freedom from discrimination and
the equitable distribution of resources -
Schools must take active steps to eliminate
the disproportionate impact of discipline
policies on youth of color by ensuring that

adequate resources are assigned to schools
and appropriate training provided for staff to
eliminate bias; and
Create mechanisms for students and parents to
participate - Schools should include students
and parents in decision-making to develop
and implement discipline policies, and involve
students and parents directly in the disciplinary
process through peer counseling, mediation
and other participatory approaches.
This report calls on the State of Louisiana and New
Orleans school districts to adopt policies and practices
that meet these human rights criteria in order to create
positive school environments, improve education and
keep children in school.
Methodology
Pushed Out documents and analyzes discipline and
safety policies in Louisiana and New Orleans public
schools that contribute to pushout and the school
to prison pipeline. The report analyzes quantitative
data on suspension, expulsion and arrest rates in New
Orleans and the state of Louisiana, as well as qualitative
research obtained from surveys and interviews of
students and parents in New Orleans public schools.
Data on Suspensions and Expulsions
The report examines quantitative suspension and
expulsion data obtained from the Recovery School
District, the Louisiana State Department of Education,
and the U.S. Department of Education. Data obtained
from the Recovery School District provides information
on the total number of suspensions and expulsions
issued in schools, including multiple suspensions or
expulsions for the same students. This data is useful
for capturing the total number of disciplinary actions
taken by a school and approximate number of school
days lost to removals, but cannot be used to determine
rates of suspension or expulsion.
By contrast, data from the Louisiana State Department
of Education and the U.S. Department of Education
provide the number of students who were suspended
or expelled. This data does not capture multiple
Introduction 3
suspensions or expulsions for the same students, but
provides the unduplicated rate of suspension and
expulsion which can be compared across schools,
districts and states. In this report, the suspension and
expulsion rates in New Orleans for 2007-2008 were
calculated by taking the total number of students
excluded and dividing by the total number of students
enrolled in the district as of February 2008.
Documenting Student and parent Experiences
The report also analyzes the fndings of surveys of
95 middle and high school students in the Recovery
School District about their opinions of school climate
and safety, and their experiences with suspension,
expulsion and arrest. The survey was drafted by FFLIC
and NESRI based on input gathered from Louisiana
public school parents and students at community
workshops. The surveys were collected by FFLIC
staff and parent volunteers outside of schools and at
community meetings.
The surveys were not gathered from a representative
sample of New Orleans public school students, but
rather from students that were more likely to have
been involved in disciplinary incidents in the past.
Therefore, one third of the surveys were collected from
an Alternative School where students are sent during
the term of a disciplinary removal. Those students had
been previously suspended and/or expelled from RSD
middle schools. Information on the breakdown of
survey respondents is provided below. In addition, the
detailed stories of 4 students from New Orleans and
other districts in Louisiana were documented through
parent interviews about their childrens disciplinary
and educational history.
4 Introduction
For decades, public schools in Louisiana, especially
those schools serving predominantly poor children and
children of color, have failed to provide a high quality
education for students. In 2007, over 30% of 4th graders
and over 42% of 8th graders statewide scored below
basic levels of profciency in English Language Arts and
Math.
78
In 2007, according to the State Department of
Education, only 65.9% of students that entered ninth
grade in 2003 went on to graduate from high school,
signifcantly less than the national average of 74.7%.
79

African American graduation rates are even lower. An
independent study of graduation rates from around the
country conducted by Editorial Projects in Education
found that in 2006, only half of African American
students in Louisiana (51%) graduated from high
school in four years, compared to almost two thirds of
white students (69%).
80
This disparity in graduation
rates has long-term consequences for communities of
color. In Louisiana, people with high school diplomas
earn approximately $7,000 more than those without
a diploma, and almost half of working age people
in Louisiana without a diploma are unemployed,
compared to less than a third of those with a high
school diploma.
81

Many factors contribute to poor educational outcomes
in Louisiana, including lack of adequate funding,
negative school climates and harsh discipline policies
that together deny access to education, ignore students
needs and push young people out of school. Louisiana
ranks 25th in the nation on per-pupil spending and
46th on the percent of state taxable resources allocated
to education.
82
Teacher salaries in Louisiana, which are
key to attracting and retaining highly qualifed teachers,
rank 43rd in the nation.
83
Louisiana spends $8,402 a
year to educate a child in public school,
84
but $105,928
a year to incarcerate a child in a juvenile correctional
facility.
85
This state investment in punitive approaches
towards youth translates into school practices as well.
In 2006-2007, there were 331,070 suspensions and
8,537 expulsions given in Louisiana public schools,
including multiple removals for the same students,
86

resulting in hundreds of thousands of lost school days.
During the current school year, in the eight month
period from August 2009 to March 2010, 1,776 public
school students in New Orleans (attending RSD and
OPSB charter and non-charter schools) were processed
through the Municipal Courts.
87

Dismantling new Orleans Schools After
Katrina
In New Orleans public schools, the ongoing educational
crisis became even more severe in 2005 when Hurricane
The State of Education in Louisiana and New Orleans 5
2. The State of Education in Louisiana and New Orleans
In 2007-2008, over 2,400 7th and 8th
graders, and over 13,500 high school
students dropped out of school in
Louisiana. The dropout rate for
African American students is almost
twice as high as the rate for white
students.
Source: Louisiana Department of Education, 2007-2008 Louisiana
State Education Progress Report.
Louisiana ranks 25th in the nation on
per-pupil spending and 46th in the
nation on the percent of state taxable
resources allocated to education.
While Louisiana spends $8,402 a year
to educate one child in public school,
the state spends $105,928 a year to
incarcerate one child in a juvenile
correctional facility.
Source: Louisiana State Highlights 2010, Quality Counts 2010,
Education Week. Agenda for Children, Louisiana Kids Count 2009.
House Committee on Appropriations, FY 10-11 Executive Budget
Review, Youth Services, March 10, 2010.
Katrina devastated the city and the school system,
closing all but a handful of the 120 New Orleans public
schools. As of 2009, the number of public school
students in New Orleans has reached 78% of pre-
Katrina enrollment,
88
but the structure and conditions
of New Orleans schools has changed dramatically. The
public schools are controlled by a patchwork of state
and local, charter and non-charter organizations.
Within this fragmented system, the use of harsh, zero-
tolerance approaches to discipline and security has
increased, and thousands of students have been pushed
out of school.
Before Hurricane Katrina, most public schools in New
Orleans were in the New Orleans Public School District
and were governed by the Orleans Parish School Board
(OPSB), a seven member board elected every four
years. Even before the storm, the State Legislature had
been debating steps to reorganize the school district
and take power away from the Orleans Parish School
Board, which had suffered from mismanagement and
a failure to address the chronic problems facing New
Orleans public schools.
89

In 2003, the Louisiana State Legislature created the
Recovery School District (RSD), a state-run district
established to take control of public schools that did
not meet minimum performance standards and were
labeled as failing.
90
A School Performance Score (SPS)
was established to determine if a school was eligible
for takeover based on a combination of student test
scores and the schools dropout and attendance rates.
Initially, if a school received an SPS of less than 45 it
was eligible for transfer to the RSD. The minimum SPS
score was raised to 60 in 2004. By 2004, only 5 of the
120 New Orleans public schools had been transferred
to the RSD. Despite the fact that most schools were
meeting the minimum SPS standards, in July 2004,
the State Legislature took further district-wide steps,
stripping the Orleans Parish School Board of power
over budgetary decisions and the hiring and fring
of staff, transferring unprecedented authority to the
district superintendent.
91

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, federal, state
and local supporters of charter schools immediately
took steps to begin shifting the composition of schools
in New Orleans. In fall 2005, the state took drastic
actions, essentially dismantling the New Orleans
Public School system, fring all teachers and staff, and
creating a new, reorganized system focused largely on
the creation of charter schools. In September 2005, the
US Department of Education pledged $20.9 million to
support charter school development in New Orleans,
without any similar pledge to support traditional
public schools.
92
In October 2005, the Governor waived
state laws that required faculty and parent approval to
convert a regular public school to a charter school,
paving the way for schools to become charters while
most of the citys families were still dispersed across the
country.
93

In November 2005, the Louisiana State Legislature
passed Act 35, expanding the defnition of failing
schools that could be transferred to state control and
resulting in the transfer of almost all New Orleans
public schools to the Recovery School District.
94
First,
any school with an SPS below the state average
became eligible for takeover, and second, the legislation
expanded the states authority to take over the entire
school district. While the legislation applied to schools
and districts statewide, it was clearly targeted at New
Orleans. A district was only considered eligible for
takeover if it had more than 30 schools with an SPS
below the state average, or if at least 50 percent of
students attend schools that fail to meet the minimum
SPS score. New Orleans was the only district in the
state that met this specifc requirement, and the state
placed no cap on how many schools it could turn into
charter schools.
95
As a result of this law, over 100 New Orleans public
schools were transferred to the RSD under the control
of a Superintendent appointed by the Louisiana State
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Only a
small number of schools had above average SPS scores
and remained under the control of the Orleans Parish
School Board (OPSB). Immediately OPSB converted 12
of its remaining schools to charters.
96
Initially, the RSD
only granted a handful of schools charters and opened
most of the schools it controlled as traditional public
schools, but over time, more and more schools under
the control of the RSD have also become charters.
6 The State of Education in Louisiana and New Orleans
A Continuing Educational Crisis in new
Orleans
As a result, today there are multiple school systems in
New Orleans which include both traditional public
schools and charter schools. As of the 2009-2010
school year, the Recovery School District (RSD) has
29 directly run and operated public schools and 4
alternative schools, and oversees 30 charter schools.
97

The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) still runs
fve public schools and oversees 11 charter schools.
98

In addition, nine charter schools are run by the Algiers
Charter Schools Association, an independent network
created for charter schools in the Algiers neighborhood
of New Orleans. Schools within the Algiers Association
have been granted their charters by either OPSB (2
schools) or RSD (7 schools), but are managed by the
Association (other charter schools in New Orleans are
managed by individual boards). Finally, there are two
independent charter schools granted directly by the
Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education.
99

Since Hurricane Katrina, an unprecedented number of
charter schools have been established in New Orleans.
Approximately 57% of public school students now
attend charter schools, the largest percentage of any
district in the country; nationally, only about 5%
of public school students attend charter schools.
100

Charter schools receive public funding, but are run
either by a non-proft board or a for-proft company
hired by a non-proft board, with the ability to raise
additional private funds.
Charters differ from other public schools in terms of
the standards enforced on the schools. For example,
charter schools in New Orleans are given wide
autonomy on issues of curriculum and staffng, and
are held accountable only to performance standards.
While much of the focus and attention of reform
efforts in New Orleans has been on creating charters
as a solution to poor educational outcomes, the sharp
increase in the number of charter schools has not
eliminated the problems experienced by students in the
citys schools. Thousands of children are still left behind
in both traditional public schools and charter schools
because of negative school climates, a continued lack of
adequate resources, a focus on teaching to the test, and
harsh zero-tolerance discipline policies.
101

In the 2007-2008 school year in New Orleans, including
all OPSB and RSD public and charter schools, only 36%
of 8th grade students met or exceeded basic profciency
in English Language Arts and Math, the same as pre-
Katrina numbers.
102
Many school buildings in New
Orleans have not been rebuilt, leaving students in
The State of Education in Louisiana and New Orleans 1

Alg i ers Charter
Scho ols
Associat i on
(2 OPSB Charters;
7 RSD Charter s)
RSD
Charter
Scho ols
(30 schools)
RSD -Operat ed
Scho ols
(29 Schools;
4 Alternative
Schools)

Louisiana Depar tmen t of
Educa tion (LDE)
Recovery School Dis trict (RSD)
OPSB
Charters
(11 schools)

Orleans Parish School
Board (OPSB)
OPSB -
Operate d
Scho ols:
(5 schools)
Board of E lemen tary and Secondary Educa tion (BESE)
C hart o f N e w O r l e a n s Pu b li c Sc h o o l s 2009 -
2010
I ndependent
BESE Charter
Scho ols
(2 School s)

Chart of new Orleans public Schools 2009-2010
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)
Orleans parish School
Board (OpSB)
Louisiana Department of
Education(LDE)
recovery School District (rSD)
OpSB-
Operated
Schools
(5 Schools)
OpSB-
Charters
(11 Schools)
Algiers Charter
Schools
Association
(2 OPSB Charters;
7 RSD Charters)
rSD
Charter
Schools
(30 schools)
rSD-Operated
Schools
(29 Schools;
4 Alternative
Schools)
independent
BESE Charter
Schools:
(2 Schools)
modular classrooms or cramming multiple schools
together into the same buildings, contributing to
unwelcoming and crowded school environments.
Due to the wholesale fring of experienced teachers
following the storm, approximately two thirds of
teachers and school administrators within both charter
and non-charter schools come from outside of New
Orleans, many without teaching degrees, with very little
administrative experience, and no clear understanding
of the culture of the community, students and families
they purport to serve.
103
In RSD schools, both charter
and non-charter, 47% of all teachers were entering the
classroom for the frst time in 2007. According to a
study by Tulane Universitys Cowen Institute, 60% of
the teachers in the RSD non-charter schools were frst-
time teachers.
104
In both the RSD public schools and the various
charter school systems in New Orleans, parents and
communities have been cut out of the decision-making
process for their schools. The RSD is governed by the
state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
(BESE) and by a Superintendent appointed by the
state, effectively denying New Orleans communities
local control over their schools. In 2009, the Louisiana
Legislature and Governor Jindal reaffrmed the steps
taken immediately following Hurricane Katrina,
passing Act 278 to allow BESE to convert existing
public schools into charters without requiring the
approval of the community, including faculty, staff or
parents.
105
Charter school boards are not elected by
parents or community members, and are often made
up of board members that are from outside of New
Orleans.
106
This lack of accountability and community
participation within the various New Orleans school
systems contributes to the pushout crisis.
107
8 The State of Education in Louisiana and New Orleans
Health and Housing After Hurricane Katrina
Students in New Orleans public schools also continue to face health challenges and housing instability since
Hurricane Katrina. In January 2010, there were an estimated 12,000 homeless New Orleans residents, many
of them families with children, double the number before Hurricane Katrina.
1
Among residents still living in
FEMA-supported housing, 44% of adults and 10% of children do not have health insurance.
2
In 2006, 42% of
the students displaced by Hurricane Katrina had respiratory problems that might be linked to formaldehyde
in FEMA trailers, and more than half had mental-health problems.
3
In a 2009 article in The Journal of the
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers found that 9.3% children in hurricane-
affected areas have a serious emotional disturbance that is directly attributable to the storm.
4
Housing instability and mental health disorders have a signifcant impact on education and on behavior in
schools.
5
Since Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans school systems have not taken the necessary steps through
counseling and supportive services to meet the needs of students affected by the storm, contributing to the
pushout crisis in schools.
Source: (1) Injustice Index, Louisiana Justice Institute, January 2010. Tiffany M Gardner, No Shelter From the Storm, NESRI, April 2008. (2)
Robin Rudowitz, Health Care In New Orleans Before And After Hurricane Katrina, Health Affairs, August 2006, http://content.healthaffairs.
org/cgi/content/full/hlthaff.25.w393v1/DC1. (3) Mary Carmichael, Katrinas Kids, Newsweek, October 15, 2009, http://www.newsweek.
com/id/217751. (4) Id. (5) Mary Wagner and Rene Cameto, The Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes of Youth with Emotional
Disturbances, The National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS), National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, August
2004.
A key factor contributing to the pushout crisis in both
New Orleans and Louisiana more broadly is the unjust
and excessive use of suspensions and expulsions that
ignore the root causes of disruption and violence, deny
students access to education, and fail to improve school
climate or behavior.
108
Human rights standards require
that school discipline avoid these punitive measures
and encourage the use of preventive and proactive
approaches that protect access to education and build
social and behavioral skills needed for positive learning
environments. No child should ever be deprived of
their human right to education because of discipline.
Suspensions
In Louisiana in 2007-2008, 86,120 students were
suspended out of school and 91,649 were suspended in
school at least once during the school year. The percent
of students suspended out of school increased from
9.7% in 2000-2001, to 12.1% in 2007-2008.
109
This
is almost twice the national rate of 6.9%. In-school
suspensions also increased. The percent of students
suspended in school at least once per year increased
from 9.3% in 2000-2001 to 12.9% in 2007-2008.
Louisianas school discipline laws have contributed
to this growing tide of suspensions. Under state law,
school principals may suspend students out of school
for a wide range of minor misbehavior, including
willful disobedience, disrespecting school staff, using
unchaste or profane language, fghting, disturbing the
school or habitually violating a school rule.
110
Students
can also be suspended for leaving the school premises
without permission, leaving class or detention without
permission, or being habitually tardy or absent.
Detailed data is not made available by the state or
school districts regarding how often the same students
are suspended, but the data show that many students
receive multiple suspensions during the same school
year. For example, in the 2006-2007 school year, 85,478
students were suspended out of school and 83,642
students were suspended in school, but when multiple
suspensions for the same students are included, there
was a total of 331,070 suspensions.
111
Therefore, many
students suffered at least two suspensions during the
school year.
These high rates of suspensions for what is often
Harsh and Excessive Suspensions and Expulsions 9
3. Harsh and Excessive Suspensions and Expulsions
Human Rights Standards Demand
Discipline with Dignity

Harsh discipline policies in schools that unfairly
punish students, undermine their sense of dignity
and threaten their education, are fundamentally at
odds with basic human rights principles.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
states that governments shall take all appropriate
measures to ensure that school discipline is
administered in a manner consistent with the
childs human dignity. The UN Guidelines on
the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency discourage
harsh disciplinary measures and state that schools
should promote policies that are fair and just.
Source: Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 28.UN Guidelines
for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines), ad-
opted and proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 45/112 of Decem-
ber 14, 1990.
Incr eas ing S us pens ion R ates in
Louis iana
8%
9%
10%
11%
12%
13%
14%
2000 2002 2004 2006 2007
Number of Students Suspended as a Percent of Total Enrollment
Out-of-School Suspensions In-School Suspensions
minor misbehavior leads to hundreds of thousands
of lost school days. There is no data on how many of
the 331,070 suspensions were for one day or multiple
days, but even if the average length of suspension
was only two days, this would result in over half a
million lost days of school each year. During out-of-
school suspensions, state law calls on school districts to
provide students with alternative education programs,
but grants waivers to any school district that claims
fnancial hardship.
112
In practice, many school districts,
including New Orleans, do not provide alternative
education during out-of-school suspension. When
students are suspended, schools may deny credit for any
school work missed that is not satisfactorily completed.
During in-school suspension, students are removed
from their normal classroom setting, but remain under
supervision within the school. Schools may provide
students with credit for work performed during in-
school suspension, but are not required to do so.
Suspensions in recovery School District public
Schools
In New Orleans, suspension rates vary by school
system. The state-run Recovery School District (RSD)
direct-run public schools have among the highest rates
of suspension in the state. In the RSD in the 2007-2008
school year, there were 33 traditional public schools
(non-charter). In these RSD public schools, 3,537
students, or 1 in 4 students were suspended out of
school at least once during the school year (28.8%).
113

This is more than twice the statewide rate in Louisiana
and four times the national rate.
At the high school level, schools suspend students at
even higher rates. More than 1 in 3 high school students
(37.7% of students) were suspended out of school at
least once. In three of the seven public high schools
Walter L. Cohen, Rabouin, and G.W. Carver over
45% of students faced out-of-school suspension at least
once in a single school year. In the K-8 elementary and
middle schools, 24.8% of all students were suspended
out of school.
114
Like most districts in Louisiana, RSD schools also issue
in-school suspensions, during which time students are
placed in a different classroom or alternative setting
within their own school, and are supposed to receive
instruction. Although some argue that the intent
of in-school suspensions is to minimize disruption
to a childs education, several studies of in-school
suspension programs have shown that in many cases
students receive sub-standard educational services, or
no services at all, during these removals.
115
Still, most school administrators view in-school
suspensions as a less punitive, less disruptive response
to misbehavior. RSD public schools use in-school
suspensions at a much lower rate than most districts.
Approximately 8.2% of RSD public school students
received in-school suspensions compared to 12.9%
statewide.
116
This demonstrates that RSD public
schools continue to use the most punitive options for
removing students, causing the greatest disruption to
students education.
implementation of the new rSD Student Code
of Conduct
In the Recovery School District in New Orleans prior
to 2008, schools imposed out-of-school suspensions
for the full range of behaviors described under state
law. In February 2008, the RSD adopted a new Student
Code of Conduct aimed at reducing suspensions and
expulsions and implementing corrective responses.
117

Under the new code, Level 1 infractions (which in the
past could result in out-of-school suspension), such as
disruptive behavior or tardiness, should now trigger
more supportive and less severe interventions including
conferences with parents, referrals to social workers
10 Harsh and Excessive Suspensions and Expulsions
Out-of-S chool S us pens ions in 2007-2008
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
National Louisiana
Statewide
Recovery School
District
or guidance counselors, and in-school suspension.
However, repeated instances of these behaviors can
still result in suspension.
For Level 2 and 3 Infractions, students will receive
mandatory suspensions. Level 2 Infractions include
fghting or instigating a fght, smoking, vandalism,
making a threat, harassment or bullying, leaving school
grounds without permission and any other infraction
that the principal deems to be similar in severity to
other Level 2 infractions.
118
This last provision leaves
school principals discretion to impose suspensions for
a wide range of infractions.
Despite these changes, preliminary data from the 2008-
2009 school year shows that out-of-school suspensions
remain extremely high in the RSD. In the 2008-2009
school year, there were 12,871 students enrolled in the
RSD public schools. In the same school year, there were
6,702 out-of-school suspensions and 1,610 in-school
suspensions issued (these numbers include multiple
suspensions for the same students).
119
This breaks
down to an average of 186 out-of-school suspensions
each week from RSD district-run public schools.
120
Furthermore, our surveys of 95 students attending
RSD direct-run public schools in the 2008-2009 school
year, suggest that many of the preventive resources that
should be available to students under the code are
not in place. Of the students surveyed, 60% had been
suspended.
121
Among those students, less than half had
a chance to tell their side of the story or to meet with
their parents and school staff prior to the suspension.
Only 10.5% received any counseling or mediation.
Excessive Suspensions for Minor Misbehavior
The RSD does not make information available about
the types of offenses for which students are being
suspended, but our student surveys demonstrate that
suspensions are often for minor misbehavior. Over
70% of students said at least one of their suspensions
was for minor misbehavior, including disruptive or
disrespectful behavior (42%), wearing clothing or
carrying items prohibited by school rules (16%) and
being late to class or school (12%). Categories like
disruptive behavior or willful disobedience are very
broad and vague.
S tudent S urvey: S tudents Do Not Recei ve
Gui dance and S upport Before Bei ng
S uspended
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Only 10%
received any
counseling or
mediation
Less than 50%
met with school
staf f and their
parent/guardian
Less than 50%
had a chance to
tell their side of
the story
Two middle school students asked why students at their school get suspended for wearing the wrong color
undershirt underneath their uniform shirt and for wearing the wrong color socks. They expressed their concerns
about being suspended for such minor infractions and then missing school and falling behind.
- Ashana Bigard, Parent
Quite often we see children being suspended and/or recommended for expulsion for minor infractions such
as disrespect, cursing, uniform violations or being late for class. For children with behavioral disabilities,
many of these types of behaviors are disability related, and can be resolved through proper implementation
of an individualized behavioral support plan. Once Advocacy becomes involved, we are usually able to have
schools implement appropriate behavior plans, resulting in better behavior and fewer disciplinary referrals. It
is a shame that students have to enlist the services of an advocate or a lawyer just to protect their right to get
appropriate educational services.
- Melissa Losch, Advocacy Center, Attorney
Approximately 54% of students surveyed said that
at least one of their suspensions was for fghting, a
common reason given for suspension in districts
across the country. Qualitative research has shown
that fghting is also a broad and subjective category.
122

Students can be suspended for behavior ranging from
instigating a fght, to shoving another student, to simply
being present during a fght without any proof that they
were actually involved. In many cases the school does
not take into account the circumstances surrounding
the fght, the severity of the confrontation or whether
or not a student actually started the confrontation.
Fighting and aggression among children are often part
of normal child development and should be addressed
through more constructive and effective methods.
123

When students are suspended, action is rarely taken to
address the underlying causes of confict.
Our student surveys also suggest that many of
the students suspended out of RSD schools were
suspended multiple times and for potentially
long periods of time. Only 8% had been
suspended once in the past three years, 28% had
been suspended 2 to 3 times, and 37% had been
suspended 4 or more times. When asked about
the length of their most recent suspension, 14%
of students reported suspensions of 1 to 2 days,
39% reported suspensions of 3 days, and 30%
reported suspensions of 4 or more days.
impact on Education
During the period of suspension, many students do
not receive access to needed counseling or quality
alternative education, and as a result fall behind in their
studies or develop feelings of resentment and alienation
from school. In the RSD, students can be suspended
out of school from 1 to 5 days and receive no alternative
educational services during the term of suspension. Of
the students we surveyed who had been suspended, 72%
were sent home during at least one of their suspensions,
only 14% were sent to in-school suspension rooms, and
21% were sent to an alternative school setting. Only
4% reported ever being taught by a regular classroom
teacher in an in-school or alternative setting, and only
5% received any homework from their regular classes
while on suspension.
Not surprisingly, 37% of students said they fell behind
in school after their suspension, and 25% said they felt
less motivated to learn after returning to school. Only
40% of students said they received help from school
staff to catch up on their work after returning to school,
and only 7% reported receiving any kind of counseling
or mediation after returning to their school.
Furthermore, when students perceive discipline to
be unfair and teachers to be uncaring, they generally
feel less connected to and engaged with schools.
124

Results of our student survey demonstrate that many
students in RSD feel they have no voice in disciplinary
procedures and believe that their teachers do not value
their education. More than 66% of students surveyed
FFL IC S tudent S urvey R eas ons
for S us pens ions
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Minor misbehavior
(disrespect, uniform
violations, lateness)
Fights
FFL IC S tudent S urvey: Action Taken
During S us pens ion
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Sent home Sent to an
in-school
suspension
room
Sent to an
alternative
school
Taught by a
teacher
Given
homework
f rom your
regular
class
said that students never or rarely help decide discipline
procedures, and 50% of students that had been
suspended felt the punishment was unfair. Less than
21% of students said that teachers always treat students
with respect, and less than 40% said that teachers always
work hard to make sure students stay in school.
The Louisiana State Department of Education
recognizes the negative impact that suspension can have
on students education. The Louisiana State Education
Progress Report for 2007-2008 illustrates the negative
relationship between academic performance and
suspension rates. Overall statewide, in higher performing
schools only 18% of students were suspended in school
or out of school, compared to 32% in lower performing
schools. In their report the Louisiana Department of
Education states: This inverse relationship between
suspension rates and student performance can be
attributed to many factors, including the impact of
discipline problems on the school climate and on
student learning and the loss of instruction that occurs
when students are suspended.
125

Expulsions
Louisiana state law also gives principals and school
districts disturbingly wide latitude to expel students for
the same range of behaviors that can lead to suspension,
from disruptive behavior to fghting.
126
State law goes
further to require that any student who has been
suspended three times during the same school year,
upon committing the fourth offense, shall be expelled
until the beginning of the next regular school year.
These automatic expulsions can be triggered by a fourth
suspension for the most minor misbehavior, including
willful disobedience or disrespecting school staff,
which encompass behaviors ranging from speaking
during class, to shouting in a hallway, to cursing at a
teacher.
In the 2007-2008 school year, the total number of
students expelled in Louisiana in a single school year
increased from 5,894 (0.8% of students) in 2000-2001
to 7,432 (1.1% of students).
127
This is fve times the
national rate of 0.2%.
128
When students are recommended for expulsion by a
school, they are frst entitled to a hearing, after which
their expulsion will either be upheld or denied. When
an expulsion is denied, a student can return to their
original school or seek an alternate placement. When
an expulsion is upheld, the state is required to provide
the student with alternative education. However, school
districts can apply for a waiver if they claim economic
hardship. If a child is later expelled from an alternative
school, the district is no longer required to provide
education. That student cannot be admitted to any
public school in the state of Louisiana except upon the
review and approval of the school board of the school
system to which he seeks admittance.
129
Students
can be expelled for up to 4 semesters, or 2 full school
years. In some cases, students enroll in an alternative
school established by the state for students that have
faced disciplinary removal, but there is no guarantee a
student will receive these educational services.
Expulsions in recovery School District public
Schools
RSD public schools in New Orleans in the 2007-2008
school year, expelled 323 students, or approximately
2.6% of students. This is twice the statewide rate of
1.1% and ten times the national rate of 0.2%.
130
In addition to the 323 students that schools ultimately
expelled, school principals also recommended nearly
I recently represented a student in a north
Louisiana parish who was being recommended for
expulsion for receiving 4 suspensions throughout
the school term. The suspensions were for tardi-
ness, calling a teacher dude, and failure to shave
facial hair. The school district tried to defend
their recommendation for expulsion by explaining
that they had to set a strong line against student
misbehavior, and that this particular student
repeatedly violated school policies. The district
personnel completely disregarded the implications
of expelling a student, dumping him out into the
community without an education, simply for
extremely minor misbehaviors.
- Eden B. Heilman, Southern Poverty Law Center,
Attorney
three times as many, 808 students, for expulsion, all of
whom likely missed school while awaiting hearings.
131

In the following school year, principals recommended
1,016 students for expulsion, but the school board
upheld only 396 expulsions.
132
While awaiting a hearing,
students are not allowed to attend school. Data is not
provided at the state or district level documenting
the number of days students wait for hearings, but
examples gathered from students, parents and attorneys
demonstrate that students can wait days, weeks or even
months before receiving a hearing.
From 2007 to 2009, the school board denied almost 60%
of the recommended expulsions and students returned
to their schools after missing an unknown number
of days awaiting their hearings.
133
In effect, schools
are excluding these students from school without due
process.
Denial of Education through
Excessive Expulsion
The Louisiana Department of Education does not
make data available on the reasons for expulsion, but
the Recovery School District provided a breakdown by
offense of the students who were expelled and assigned
to Schwartz Alternative School in 2007-2008. Among
those 230 students who were sent to Schwartz,
134
47%
A Parents Story: Expulsion Hearing Process
My son is 14 years old in the 9th grade. He had never been in trouble or caused any problems for me at home or
at school before this incident. He is a very intelligent child and his right to an education was violated.
In October 2008, my son was accused of being involved in a group fght. He was suspended and recommended
for expulsion for the incident, and could not return to school until he attended a hearing. As a result, he was
out of school for a month until his scheduled hearing. He was found not guilty at the hearing and sent back to
the school where he was previously suspended, but not before unjustly missing an entire month of school while
waiting for his hearing.
Then in February 2009, my son was expelled from this same school. I was called to be informed that my son
had been seen with another student who brought a gun to school. He was implicated and expelled based on
allegations of him being involved with the armed student. He was out of school for fourteen days until his
hearing. Once again, my son was found not guilty of the charges.
Prior to the frst episode, he had never been in trouble, in a fght, suspended or even reprimanded for anything.
Once recommended for expulsion, the only right to education that existed for my son was being allowed to
make up the work he missed during the month he was suspended from school. Yet, he was given just 3 days to
complete work from over 18 days of school work that he missed. One of his teachers was no longer at the school
and the substitute gave him make-up work and he received an incomplete in that class.
Since March 2009, my son has been attending a different school that provides a completely different environment
for my son and he is excelling and performing to his full scholastic potential. In less than a month his motivation
and ambition to do well has improved a great deal.
E xpuls ions in 2007-2008
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
National Louisiana
Statewide
Recovery
School District
Percent of Students Expelled
were for group fghts at school (not categorized as
assault/battery) and 5.7% for repeated suspensions or
willful disobedience. In addition, 14.3% were for drugs
or controlled substances, 17% were for assault/battery,
4.8% were for weapons and 1.7% for burglary or theft.
While categories such as assault and battery,
controlled substances and weapons may suggest
that serious criminal activity was involved, this is often
not the case. Well documented cases from around the
country demonstrate that in the school setting these
categories can encompass a wide range of behavior,
even seemingly minor infractions. For example, in
Alabama, an African American high school student was
expelled and sent to an alternative school for drug use
after taking Motrin to relieve menstrual cramps.
Among the RSD students surveyed for this report, 40% of
students had been recommended for expulsion. Among
those, almost 55% were recommended for expulsion
for fghting, 32% for repeated disruptive behavior
(including the category of willful disobedience), 18%
for weapons, including items like box cutters, and 13%
for drugs.
A Parents Story: Expulsion for Minor Misbehavior
My son is a sweet child. He likes video games and most sports. He was on the football team at his former high
school, and plays basketball at a local park. This child has never caused me any trouble. He has never been ar-
rested or charged with breaking any laws. I dont have to worry about drugs or alcohol. I know all of his friends
and they are all good, productive people.
In December 2008, my son was expelled from the Louisiana Public School System. This expulsion means that
my child cannot attend any public school in the state of Louisiana. The reason given was willful disobedience.
His infraction was selling candy to another student. I learned about the expulsion when I picked him up from
school that day.
The school administrator uses this term willful disobedience excessively and covers all infractions that cant
be logically categorized. My son has been accused of this behavior several times. Once for bouncing a ball at
the wrong time, other times for uniform violations (his shirt was un-tucked), and another time because he
went to the restroom prior to class and the teacher declared that he had cut class. I dont understand it! My
child has never had a discipline problem. He has never destroyed property or been disrespectful to teachers or
students. Why has my son been expelled from school?
After I found out about the expulsion, I requested and attended the meeting with the hearing offcer. It was
presented, by me and my representatives, that the school had no basis for this expulsion. But the hearing offcer
upheld the principals decision. What now? I could not afford to send my son to a private school, nor would I
allow him to go to the alternative school. I have spoken to several individuals about the alternative school and
no one had anything good to say about it. I believe this is where the school administration sends kids who have
behavioral or discipline problems. My son has neither of these problems but I believe that in order to ft in
at this school, he would become a discipline problem. I cannot allow this to happen.
So now, what do I do? Each day, I drop my oldest son and daughter at school. I return home where my son is
still sleeping. He gets up around 10 or 11 a.m. Each day, I see my child slipping more and more into depres-
sion. He is listless and unable to focus. He is withdrawn and unable to communicate. Watching him like this
breaks my heart. He has faith in me to fx this but I dont know where else to turn. He does not understand
why it is he who is being persecuted. I dont understand this either.
Over 68% of students surveyed that were recommended
for expulsion were sent to an alternative school and 21%
were sent to a juvenile facility. Only two students (or
5%) reported receiving any counseling or mediation
during their expulsion. After the expulsion, only 21%
of students said they returned to a regular school.
Alternative Schools
In the Recovery School District, like in many districts
around the country, when students are expelled they have
the option to attend an alternative school specifcally
for students that principals have suspended long-term
or expelled from their regular school. In some cases,
these alternative schools can be an effective setting for
students facing academic or disciplinary diffculties,
provided that they have high quality teachers, engaging
curriculum and intensive services tailored to the
individual academic, social, emotional and behavioral
needs of students.
135
Unfortunately, in school districts
around the country, including in Louisiana, many
alternative school programs have become a dumping
ground for students that are pushed out of regular
schools. These schools are often run more like juvenile
detention facilities and students do not receive quality
educational services.
In the 2007-2008 school year, there was only one
alternative school in the RSD set up to place students
removed for disciplinary reasons. Of the students
expelled that year, 230 were sent to Schwarz Alternative
School.
136
In 2008-2009, the Multiple Pathways
Network was formed to run Schwartz Academy and
three additional alternative schools in the RSD.
137
The
Multiple Pathways Network was created to design
and implement improved alternative school settings
where the academic and behavioral needs of students
are met by providing more individualized curriculum
combined with positive behavior supports. Yet, many
parents and advocates criticize these alternative schools
for being punitive and criminalized environments
where students do not receive quality instruction.
Rather than providing an environment where students
can receive services and interventions to improve their
behavior, students at alternative schools are more likely
to get in more trouble and become further withdrawn
from school.
To improve current alternative schools in the Multiple
Pathways Network, and before alternative school
programs are expanded further in the RSD and other
districts in the state, a study into alternative schools
in Louisiana is needed to identify problems and to
recommend best practices. Studies in other states
demonstrate how easily the creation of multiple
Alternative schools are typically utilized as
a warehouse for children with disabilities or
children with behavior problems. Usually, when
children are surrounded by other students with
similar behavior problems, they are unable to
learn the necessary social and behavioral skills to
succeed in a regular school setting; this is likely to
result in a revolving door to the alternative school.
Placement in an alternative school may also result
in more intense and frequent misbehavior for
a student who already suffers from behavioral
challenges. These schools usually offer very little
academic and behavioral supports for students
who are the most at-risk.
Attorney
Overall, I fnd students tend to get in more
trouble in alternative schools, and the schools do
tend to be prison-like. In terms of children with
disabilities, I fnd the alternative schools are not
usually well suited to meet their disability related
needs.
- Melissa Losch, Advocacy Center, Attorney
I feel that the presence of alternative schools for
offenses other than drugs, weapons or extreme
bodily harm are not necessary. They provide
schools with a vehicle to suspend and expel
students for relatively minor offenses. This also
absolves schools of their responsibly to teach
appropriate behavior to students with challenging
behavior.
- Karran Harper Royal, Parent
disciplinary alternative schools can have the negative
effect of pushing students farther down the path
to dropout and prison. For example, research on
Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs)
in Texas found that many alternative schools use harsh
disciplinary methods, offer fewer courses than regular
schools, do not have full school days, and do not provide
students with classroom instruction from teachers, but
rather give them rudimentary worksheets to fll out on
their own. In the 2006 Comprehensive Annual Report
on Texas Public Schools, the Texas Education Agency
reported that disciplinary alternative programs have
fve times the dropout rate of mainstream programs.
138

Disproportionate punishment of
Students of Color
Students of color and students from poor communities
face the harshest suspensions and expulsions. For
example, in Louisiana, African American students
make up 44.9% of the student population, but 68.2% of
out-of-school suspensions and 72.5% of expulsions.
139

African American students are 2.6 times more likely to
be suspended, and 3.2 times more likely to be expelled
than white students.
Research has shown that higher rates of suspension
and expulsion among African American students are
not the result of African American students engaging
in higher levels of disruptive behavior than other
students.
140
Russell Skiba at the University of Indiana
found that African American students are more likely to
be punished for offenses such as disrespect, excessive
noise and loitering, all of which are dependent on the
judgment of a teacher or administrator.
141
Furthermore,
schools impose more severe punishments on African
American students than white students for the same
infractions.
142

The disproportionate punishment of students of
color, and students from poor communities, is also in
part due to their concentration in schools with fewer
supportive resources.
143
Schools with high suspension
rates usually have fewer preventive disciplinary systems
in place, fewer resources for providing counseling and
confict resolution, larger class sizes, and lower academic
quality ratings.
144
The Recovery School District in New Orleans has one of
the highest percentages of African American and low-
income students in the state, and has among the highest
rates of out-of-school suspension. In RSD public
schools, where 98% of students are African American
and 79% of students are low-income (eligible for free
lunch), principals subject 28.8% of students to out-of-
school suspensions.
145

This rate of suspension is signifcantly higher than in
more affuent, predominantly white school districts. In
St. Tammany Parish, for example, where only 18.5% of
students are African American and only 42.3% are low-
income, principals impose out-of-school suspensions
on a mere 8% of students. Similarly in St. Charles
Parish, where only 36.4% of students are African
American and 45.1% are low-income, only 4.1% of
students are suspended out of school.
146

When we compare districts across the state of
Louisiana, we fnd that school districts with a
larger percentage of African American students
have higher rates of suspension and expulsion.
The ten school districts in Louisiana with the
highest percentage of African American students
(75% or more), have an average out-of-school
suspension rate of 13.5%, compared to 7.4% in
the ten school districts with the lowest percentage
of African American students (20% or less).
147

Yet even within the mostly white, affuent districts
that have lower rates of suspension overall, we still
Dis proportionate S us pens ion and E xpuls ion of
African American S tudents in L ouis iana
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Student
Population
Suspensions Expulsions
P ercent of S tudents by Race
African American
Students
White Students
see that African American students are suspended at
higher rates than their white peers. In St. Tammany
Parish, schools are 2.8 times more likely to suspend
African American students than white students. In
St. Charles Parish, schools are 2.6 times more likely
to suspend African American students than white
students.
148

These disproportionate rates of exclusion for students
of color, and the disparities in resources allocated to
schools serving these communities, are a violation of
fundamental human rights standards that prohibit
discrimination in both the inputs and outcomes of
education. The government must provide equitable
funding so that student populations with higher
needs receive the necessary resources, and schools and
government agencies must take steps to monitor and
reduce any discrimination in disciplinary policies and
practices.
Raci al Di spari ti es i n Out-of-S chool
S uspensi ons wi thi n Di stri cts 2006-2007
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
St. Tammany Parish St. Charles Parish
% African American Students Suspended
% White Students Suspended
United Nations Human Rights Body Calls on U.S. School Districts to
Limit Suspension and Expulsion
The United States is obligated to guarantee the human right to freedom from discrimination in both the intent
and impact of school policies. The U.S. government has ratifed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, making the treaty U.S. law.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed concern that racial disparities
in suspension, expulsion and arrest rates in schools contribute to...the high drop out rate and the referral to the
justice system of students belonging to racial, ethnic or national minorities. The Committee calls on school
districts to review their zero-tolerance school discipline policies, with a view to limiting the imposition of
suspension or expulsion to the most serious cases of school misconduct.
Source: United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations on Periodic Review of the United
States, February, 2008.
S uspensi on Rates i n 2007-2008
Compared by Di stri ct
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Recovery
School District
St Tammany
Parish
St Charles
Parish
RSD (high poverty, high Af rican American population)
Compared to Other Districts (low poverty, low Af rican
American population)
The harsh use of suspensions and expulsions is
compounded by the heavy presence of security guards
and the intervention of police in school disciplinary
matters. Before Hurricane Katrina in 2004-2005, the
Orleans Parish School Board spent approximately 3
million dollars on security with a student population
of 65,000.
149
After the storm in 2006-2007, before many
families had even returned to the city, the Recovery
School District (RSD) spent approximately 20 million
dollars on security with a student population of about
9,500.
150
Put another way, Orleans Parish School
Board spent about $46 per student for security in the
2004-2005 school year, while the Recovery School
District spent over $2,100 per student in 2006-2007.
This created an extreme prison-like environment in
schools.
By the 2008-2009 school year, the RSD had cut
spending on security to 8.7 million dollars with a total
student population in RSD direct-run schools of about
12,700.
151
Even though the district has cut its security
spending by more than half, the RSD still spent $690
per student on security approximately 15 times as
much as OPSBs pre-Katrina spending per student.
152

As a result, a criminalizing environment remains in
schools. In 2008-2009, the RSD employed 132 School
Resource Offcers (SROs) managed by the former
chief of the New Orleans Police Department.
153
In
the summer before the 2009-2010 school year, due to
budget cuts, the number of SROs was reduced to about
77 security personnel. RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas
estimated that in the 2009-2010 school year, there
would be between 77 and 87 SROs - about two SROs in
each elementary school and fve in each four-year high
school.
154

This signifcant allocation of resources towards
security in schools is favoring the criminalization of
student behavior over an investment in supportive
interventions and professional school staff that
could better meet the needs of students and create
healthy school environments. For example, there is
approximately 1 School Resource Offcer for every 150
students in RSD-run public schools.
155
By comparison,
schools in the state of Louisiana have on average 1
guidance counselor for every 221 students.
156
In our
survey of RSD students, when asked if they are able to
see a guidance counselor when they need to, almost
39% of students said they never or rarely see a guidance
counselor when they need one, 30.5% said they can
sometimes see a counselor, and only 24.2% said they
can always see a counselor when they need one.
Instead of providing these positive and supportive
resources, schools are investing in security personnel
and using law enforcement tactics to address school
disciplinary matters. In our survey of students, 92%
reported that they see School Resource Offcers (SROs)
Policing and Criminalization 19
4. Policing and Criminalization
Under Human Rights Standards Schools Must Not Criminalize Children
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall
be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate
period of time. The UN Guidelines on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency state that schools should avoid
criminalizing and penalizing a child for behaviour that does not cause serious damage to the development of the
child or harm to others.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 32. UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines), adopted
and proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 45/112 of December 14, 1990.
on a regular basis in their schools, and 65% reported the
periodic presence of armed New Orleans police offcers
that are called-in to their schools. Of those students,
41% said they see two to four SROs in their school on
a given day, and 21% said they see 5 or more. Research
has shown the heavy presence and involvement of law
enforcement in schools contributes to negative school
climates and detachment from school and increases the
likelihood of dropping out and coming into contact
with the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
157

School-Based Arrests
With this heavy security and police presence, school-
related arrests for even non-criminal activity become
common. Based on data from the Orleans Parish
Juvenile Court, from September 7, 2007 to January 14,
2009, there were 492 school-related arrests at 54 public
and charter schools.
158
Approximately one quarter of
the arrests were for minor offenses that should not
involve police intervention in a school setting and in
all likelihood should have been dealt with by school
staff, including disturbing the peace, trespass (which
often involves being on school grounds after the school
day ends), truancy and school fghts not categorized as
Battery or Assault.
Of the 95 students we surveyed for this report, 23 had
been arrested in school, 15 had appeared in court as
a result, and nine ended up in a juvenile facility or
alternative school placement as a result of their arrest.
Seventeen of those arrests (74%) were for fghting or
disruptive behavior, fve were for weapons and four
were for drugs.
prison-Like School Environments
Among students surveyed, when asked about the impact
of this heavy security presence on learning and the
school environment, 56% of students said that security
guards never or rarely make students feel more safe in
schools, 17% said they sometimes make students feel
more safe, and only 17% said they always make students
feel more safe. More than 27% of students said that
security guards and police offcers never or rarely treat
students with respect, 35% said they only sometimes
treat students with respect, while 35% said they always
treat students with respect.
A 2006 national study exploring perceptions of violence
among teachers and students found that security
guards, metal detectors, and surveillance equipment
in hallways can contribute to a climate of anxiety and
stress for both teachers and students while doing little
to prevent violence.
159

The RSD has legitimate concerns about safety, but
does not know how to make schools safe. The RSD has
mishandled issues of safety through an over-reliance on
harsh punishments and get tough security measures,
which actually fuel misbehavior and likely increase
violence, contrary to the assumptions that underlie
zero-tolerance.
20 Policing and Criminalization
FFLIC S tudent S urvey: Do s ec urity guards
make s tudents feel more s afe in s c hools ?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Never or
Rarely
Sometimes Always
Percent of Survey Respondents
Despite federal laws and human rights standards
which require transparency and accountability from
our schools,
160
accurate information on discipline in
charter schools is not easily available. Although charter
schools in Louisiana receive public funding, they are
exempt from many of the standards and regulations
to which other public schools are held.
161
Under
their charter contracts, some schools have selective
admissions criteria, while others have fexibility to
transfer or remove students for academic reasons.
162

Charter schools do not have to comply with district-
wide codes of conduct, and are not required to follow
the same procedures for expulsions.
The current available data, which suggests that
discipline rates are lower in charter schools than in the
traditional public schools, appear to be distorted by this
lack of accountability and transparency. Not only have
expulsion rates been drastically underreported by the
State, but there is evidence that students with a history
of behavioral problems or with other special needs have
been excluded or pushed out in inappropriate ways.
163

These practices are violating fundamental human rights
principles and are indicative of the problems that arise
when the state weakens accountability and community
participation in the oversight of school policies and
practices.
Underreported and Distorted
Disciplinary Data
Recent investigative reports in New Orleans have
found that disciplinary data on expulsions in charter
schools is inaccurate. An article in the Times-Picayune
in 2009 found that data published by the Louisiana
State Department of Education vastly underreported
the number of expulsions in charter schools, as well
as in some public schools in the RSD.
164
According to
state data, from a sample of 19 charter schools in the
RSD, only 4 students were expelled in 2007-2008. But
according to the principal at Lafayette Academy charter
school, 14 students were expelled from that school
alone, although the state data reported that Lafayette
Academy had zero expulsions. At Abramson Science
and Technology School, the principal said that 11
students were expelled, while the state data reported
only 1 expulsion.
165

Regarding suspensions, according to data from the state,
in the 30 charter schools created under the Recovery
School District in New Orleans, 16.5% of students
were suspended out of school in the 2007-2008 school
year.
166
This is still higher than the statewide rate of
12.1%, but lower than the 28.8% of students suspended
in RSD direct-run public schools. However, as a result
of several exclusionary and coercive practices, the
real number of students being excluded from charter
schools for disciplinary reasons is likely higher than
what is refected in the offcial data.
The same Times-Picayune article revealed that charter
schools are pushing out students by telling parents that
they will suspend or expel their children unless they
transfer to another public school. Michael Haggen,
Deputy Superintendent for the Recovery School
Districts Offce of School Management, was quoted
in the article as saying What sometimes happens
is charters are telling the families, Either you can
withdraw or we can expel you. Haggen went on to say
that in a few cases where RSD tried to send the student
back after some charter schools had inappropriately
forced students out, the charter school told the family
it would continue suspending the child if he or she
returned.
167

In addition to these informal practices, many charter
schools in the RSD have adopted an expulsion policy
as part of their charter contract with the state which
allows schools to have their own procedures and
to hold internal expulsion hearings with their own
designated hearing offcer. In the RSD-run public
schools, a district-wide hearing offce, independent of
Charter Schools and Pushout 21
5. Charter Schools and Pushout
the individual school, oversees the expulsion process.
168

Charter schools are only required to notify the RSD
and give families the option to appeal charter school
expulsions through the RSD hearing offce.
In the seven month period from August 2009 to
February 2010, the RSD collected data on 77 students
that left RSD charter schools (including Algiers charter
schools with charters from the RSD), and contacted the
central RSD district offce.
169
Among the reasons given
for leaving, 22% reported challenging behaviors or
expulsion, 31% reported parent dissatisfed, parent
voluntarily withdrew students or parent requested
transfer, 13% reported that the student was failing or
lost their seat, and 19% relocated or had transportation
diffculties.
Exclusion of Students with Special needs
Most charter schools in New Orleans are offcially open
to any student regardless of their grades, behavior or
special needs.
170
However, even in those schools with
no offcial admissions requirements, there are practices
that restrict admission and push out students with
behavior problems and special needs.
In some cases, parents are deterred from enrolling
students because the charter schools are not required to
have the specialized staff and services to which students
with special needs are entitled. RSD Superintendent
Paul Vallas said, in a PBS interview in May 2009, that
Charters are generally much smaller than regular,
traditionally run schools. You know, so charters
may not have the capacity to have the various special
education specialties like the speech therapists, etc. A
parents going to ask, Do you have these services?
And if a charter doesnt have those services, the parents
going to look for another school.
171

In other cases, charter schools deny enrollment and
refer parents of students with special education needs
or behavior problems to traditional public schools.
Cheryllyn Branche, Principal at Benjamin Banneker
Elementary School, a traditional public school in
the RSD, said in the same PBS interview, Parents
are seeking places for their children who may have
physical handicaps, mental or emotional handicapping
conditions, and theyre not being accepted by charters.
I get referrals from specifc principals of
charter schools. Go to Banneker. Tell Miss
Branche I sent you. Go to Banneker.
172

As a result, the traditional public schools
enroll more students with special needs and
those at-risk for behavior problems. For
example, special education students make
up about 12% of the student population in
traditional public schools in New Orleans,
compared to only 8% in the charter
schools.
173
This practice is essentially
denying access to students with disabilities
in charter schools that receive public
funding and should therefore be held to
laws protecting the rights of students with
22 Charter Schools and Pushout
I am currently representing a student in New
Orleans who has been recommended for expulsion
but has not yet been expelled, and he has been
out of school now for several weeks. The charter
school is claiming that he waived his right to
an expulsion hearing because he signed a form
several weeks before the incident that led to
the expulsion which stated that he was being
permitted to stay at school on the condition that
if he committed another misbehavior, he would
be expelled without the beneft of an expulsion
hearing.
Attorney
Number of S tudents L eavi ng RS D Charter
S chool s Aug 2009 - S ept 2010
Challenging Behaviors or
Expelled
Parent Dissatisfied,
Withdrew or Transferred
Student Failing or Lost
Seat
Relocated or
Transportation Difficulties
Other
Unknown
disabilities. At the same time the traditional public
schools do not receive adequate training, resources or
support to meet the needs of students.
174

As a result of these coercive and exclusionary practices
in charter schools, the students with the greatest needs
are concentrated in traditional public schools which
are not receiving the resources they need to provide
those students with the necessary academic, social and
emotional support. Without greater accountability
and local community participation in the governance
and oversight of charter schools, these practices will
likely continue. Strong investment in public education
and parent and community participation is needed to
combat pushout and ensure quality education in all
New Orleans schools.
Charter Schools and Pushout 23
Charter schools have very little or no regulations,
like other free market institutions in this country
that have failed. The charter school model is
a step in the wrong direction, as poor children
and children with special needs are kicked
out of these schools on a daily basis because of
lack of regulations. This free market education
experimentation should be criminal, especially
since these children have enough burdens on their
backs post-Katrina.
- Ashana Bigard, Parent
To uphold human rights principles and ensure the best
outcomes for students, research has shown that positive
approaches to discipline--such as positive behavior
support, restorative practices, confict resolution,
mediation, mentoring and the involvement of parents
and students in developing discipline policies--can
reduce violence and confict in schools and improve
learning.
175
Growing numbers of schools are adopting
evidence-based positive approaches to discipline.
These approaches create respectful and welcoming
environments, respond to misconduct by dealing with
the root causes of behavior, and address students
needs.
In this report, we highlight two school-wide
approaches--Positive Behavior Support and Restorative
Practices--and explore how changes to state laws can
be made to shift policies away from punitive, zero-
tolerance approaches to discipline and towards these
positive and supportive methods.
positive Behavior Support Approaches
Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a school-wide
approach to supporting positive student behavior in
order to prevent and reduce disciplinary incidents and
create positive school climates.
176
Thousands of schools
across the United States are using PBS, and districts like
Los Angeles have adopted comprehensive district-wide
PBS policies. When fully implemented, PBS includes:
Developing school-wide norms, routines and
physical arrangements for all members of the
school community to create positive school
climates;
Training teachers and staff to use effective
classroom management and positive behavior
support strategies to teach, model, recognize
and reward positive student behavior;
Providing early, positive interventions for
misconduct, such as mentoring programs, staff
support teams or mediation, and implementing

appropriate use of consequences;
Collecting and analyzing disciplinary data to
monitor and adjust discipline policies to best
meet the needs of teachers and students.
Research from around the country has shown that
PBS can reduce disciplinary incidents, improve the
school environment and increase academic outcomes
for students. In the state of Illinois, there are over 600
schools implementing PBS.
177
In 12 Chicago public
schools, for example, the number of students who
received six or more disciplinary referrals fell by more
than 50% over three years after implementing PBS.
178

At Carpentersville Middle School, after implementing
PBS, offce disciplinary referrals fell by 64% from
2005 to 2007. During the same period, the number of
students that met or exceeded standards for 8th grade
tests increased by 12.3% in Reading and 44% in Math.
179

In Florida, a study of 102 schools using PBS found that
after one year of implementation offce disciplinary
referrals fell by an average of 25% and out-of-school
suspensions fell by an average of 10%.
180
In 2008, the Recovery School District (RSD) in New
Orleans approved a new Student Code of Conduct that
was intended to integrate positive behavior supports
into a range of constructive responses to misbehavior.
While some elements of PBS have been adopted in some
schools, such as creating rewards systems for positive
behavior, these efforts have been piecemeal and the
policy has not been implemented fully or appropriately.
Conversations with parents, students and teachers in
the RSD reveal that teachers have not been adequately
trained in classroom management or positive behavior
techniques, and schools have not received the resources
and support to utilize early, positive interventions for
misconduct. Even the limited rewards systems that
have been adopted in some schools focus on rewarding
students for positive behavior with school money to
purchase items at a school store, rather than more
24 Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline

6. Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline
meaningful approaches to building a culture of positive
behavior and respect in the school.
For PBS to be successful in the RSD and other schools
across Louisiana, there must be commitment from
all members of the school community--teachers,
administrators, staff, students and parents--to work
together to build a positive school culture. The RSD
must provide schools with the staff resources and
professional development to effectively carry out
positive interventions and monitor the effectiveness of
school practices.
restorative practices
Growing numbers of school districts around the
country are also integrating restorative practices into
their disciplinary approaches. Restorative practices is
a school-wide approach that uses informal and formal
techniques to build a sense of school community
and manage confict by repairing harm and restoring
positive relationships.
181
Discipline Codes in Chicago
and Denver have incorporated restorative techniques
to provide positive disciplinary interventions and
alternatives to suspension. When fully implemented
restorative practices include:
Using a classroom teaching method, known as
circles, to work collaboratively with students
to set academic goals, explore the curriculum,
and set classroom norms for behavior;
Training teachers and staff in classroom
management and de-escalation techniques
that increase communication and provoke
student refection on how their actions impact
others; and
Involving students in facilitated group
conversations, such as formal circles and
group conferencing techniques, to identify the
harm caused by an incident and work together
to identify ways to repair the harm done to
individuals and the school community.
Research has shown the effectiveness of these practices.
For example, West Philadelphia High School in
Pennsylvania was known as one of the worst schools
in Philadelphia and was on the states Persistently
Dangerous Schools list for six years. But after
implementing restorative practices school-wide, the
climate has improved dramatically. Suspensions were
down by 50%
182
and violent acts and serious incidents
were down 52% in the 20072008 school year.
183
The dramatic reduction in the number of violent acts
and serious offenses demonstrates that implementing
restorative practices actually changed student behavior,
and not simply the schools practices in dealing with
diffcult behaviors.
In 2006, Chicago Public Schools adopted a new
student code of conduct incorporating restorative
techniques, and now over 50 high schools in Chicago
have restorative peer jury programs. As a result over
1,000 days of suspension were avoided in 2007-2008 by
referring students to peer jury programs for violating
school rules, thereby keeping them in the learning
environment.
184

Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline 25

What schools call Positive Behavior Support
is nothing but a reward program based on
contingencies. I know what Positive Behavior
Support is and what I see in most schools is not
Positive Behavior Support [PBS]. I worry that it
gives people a false impression of PBS.
- Karran Harper Royal, Parent
Some schools in Louisiana are attempting to
implement Positive Behavior Support [PBS],
but it requires a prolonged effort to change the
existing culture of a school over time. PBS is but
one research-based program designed to reward
students for appropriate behavior. There are
many other strategies that a school district may
employ to achieve similar outcomes, specifcally
increased time on task and decreased removals
from school. Overall, schools need more training
and guidance in how to implement PBS in the
classroom.
Attorney
26 Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline
reforming State Laws
In Louisiana, like in many states around the country,
state legislatures passed laws beginning in the 1990s
requiring school districts to create zero-tolerance
policies regarding the use of classroom removals, out-
of-school suspensions and expulsions. In recent years,
as evidence has demonstrated that these zero-tolerance
approaches do not improve school discipline and in fact
contribute to pushout, states have begun to reform their
laws by removing zero-tolerance provisions, limiting
the use of out-of-school suspension and expulsion,
and mandating or encouraging the use of preventive
and supportive strategies for creating positive school
climates.
185

In Florida, for example, a zero-tolerance reform law
was passed in 2009 requiring that districts rewrite their
discipline codes to take the particular circumstances
of a students misconduct into account before issuing
punishment. The law encourages schools to use
alternatives to expulsion and referral to law enforcement
such as restorative justice, and states that discipline
policies must apply equally to all races.
186

In Indiana and Alaska, new laws require that parents and
communities be involved in developing new discipline
policies. In Indiana, state law now requires that schools
work with parents to develop a graduated discipline
system that uses severe punishments only as a last
resort, puts in place alternative discipline methods, and
ensures that mental health services are available.
187
In
Alaska, new laws mandate that schools involve students,
parents, the community, and teachers in developing
new behavior standards that will be regularly reviewed
and revised. Schools must also develop policies for
student confict resolution and address student mental
health and substance abuse concerns.
188

Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature should adopt
Senate Bill 628, revising statute r.S. 17:416, to
reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions
and change how schools address student behavior
from punitive to positive approaches. The Senate
Bill should:
Mandate that all schools use corrective
strategies, such as Positive Behavior Support
approaches, which evidence demonstrates is
more effective than punitive, zero-tolerance
approaches to discipline, and which the Board
of Elementary and Secondary Education
(BESE) mandates in the Model Master Plan of
Legislative Act 1225.
Reduce the number of children being removed
from school for non-violent and subjective
behaviors by deleting vague infractions/
offenses, such as willful disobedience from
the state statutes list of behaviors which can
lead to suspension.
Reduce the total number of days and amount
of time a child is out of school away from
instruction when suspended or expelled by:
Reducing the number of consecutive
days a student can be suspended in
grades kindergarten through twelve to 3
days or less.
Placing a 5 day cap on the total number of
days a student can be suspended during
one school year in grades kindergarten
through fve, and a 10 day cap for
students in grades six through twelve.
Decreasing the time frame for which a
student can be expelled from four school
semesters to two school semesters.

1.
Ensuring that all students in all school

districts receive instruction during in-
school and out-of-school suspensions.
Requiring that students have an expulsion
hearing within 5 days and remain in
school or receive alternative instruction
while awaiting their expulsion hearing.
The Louisiana State Legislature should ensure
that school districts have the necessary resources
to fully implement positive Behavior Support
approaches and hire adequate numbers of
counselors and other support staff through the
following steps:
Increase Minimum Foundation Program
funding and identify additional funding
streams for public education.
The Louisiana State Legislature should pass
legislation to return new Orleans public schools
to local district control through the following
steps:
Vote down the reauthorization of the Recovery
School District and pass legislation that would
return all state-run schools to their local school
district within three years, with a mandate for
BESE and the state superintendent to develop
a plan to do so by the end of the 2009-2010
school year, with guarantees for transparency,
community participation and oversight.
The Louisiana State Legislature should create
greater transparency and public accountability
over charter schools through the following steps:

Pass legislation that creates a statewide
Louisiana Independent Monitoring Offce for
Charter Schools.
2.
3.
4.
Recommendations 21
7. Recommendations
Amend the state charter school statute to require
parent, staff and community approval before
non-charter public schools can be converted
into charter schools, and require parent, staff
and community input into the creation of new
charter schools.
Pass legislation to hold charter schools
accountable to the same state laws and
regulations as non-charter public schools
regarding preventive discipline policies,
suspensions and expulsions, due process rights,
and special education services.
Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education and State Superintendent
Statewide recommendations
Education and State Superintendent should take
the following steps statewide to reduce the use of
suspensions, expulsions and police involvement
in schools, and implement positive approaches to
discipline:
Require that all school district superintendents
implement Positive Behavior Support
approaches in their respective districts,
and develop an accountability system for
implementation with direct oversight by the
State Department of Education.
Develop a strategic plan to reduce the number
of suspensions, expulsions and school arrests
in Louisianas schools.
Collect and make publicly available data on
in-school and out-of-school suspensions
and expulsions, reasons for being suspended
and expelled, students receiving multiple
suspensions, the duration of suspensions,
school-based arrests, referrals to law
enforcement agencies and placement in
alternative schools, all at the school and district
levels (including the Recovery School District
and charter schools statewide), broken down
by race, gender, special education status,
socioeconomic status, and English profciency.
1.
Hire or contract with a compliance offcer

for the implementation of Positive Behavior
Support approaches.
Effective immediately, the Superintendent, or a
representative, of the Louisiana Department of
Education should produce a quarterly report
updating the Juvenile Justice Implementation
Commission on progress as it relates to the
BESE Model Master Plan.
Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education, State Superintendent
and new Orleans School Systems
Education, State Superintendent and all school
systems in new Orleans should take the following
steps to reduce suspensions, expulsions and police
involvement in schools, and implement positive
approaches to discipline:
Educate and bring awareness about the school
to prison pipeline to all school personnel
within all the New Orleans school systems,
including through mandated training.
Ensure that the Model Master Plan, and
specifcally Positive Behavior Support
approaches, is implemented in all New Orleans
school systems (charter and non-charter).
Ensure that all New Orleans school systems
(including the Recovery School District)
develop and implement a best practice policy
for the use of security and law enforcement
on school grounds, and connect those school
systems to quality training for security
personnel on adolescent development, confict
resolution, and professionalism.
Develop a policy for all New Orleans school
systems (including the Recovery School
District) regarding the use of security and
submit it to the Juvenile Justice Implementation
Commission.
1.
28 Recommendations
Recommendations 29
Education should take the following steps to
return new Orleans public schools to local
district control:
The State Superintendent should recommend
the return of all RSD schools to the Orleans
Parish School Board, and by the end of the
2009-2010 school year, BESE should develop a
written plan with a clear method for returning
all RSD schools to the Orleans Parish School
Board within 3 years.
Effective immediately, BESE should hold public
board meetings in Orleans Parish at least once
per month to discuss matters concerning
RSD and the transition to local control until
all schools are returned to the Orleans Parish
School Board.
Education should take the following steps to
increase transparency and accountability in
charter schools and ensure public review before
additional charter schools are created in new
Orleans:
Effective immediately, place a moratorium on
all RSD charter school applications designated
for New Orleans for the 2011-2012 school
year.
Establish a policy that any new school applying
to be chartered after the moratorium ends
shall be authorized as an Orleans Parish School
Board charter.
Require that charter schools be held accountable
to the same standards as traditional public
schools for discipline and for addressing the
needs of special education students, and by
the end of the 2009-2010 school year, mandate
that every charter school in Orleans Parish
(including those under the Orleans Parish
School Board, Recovery School District, and
Algiers Charter Schools Association) submit a
detailed plan to BESE, as it relates to federal law,
for implementing special education services.
2.
3.
EnDnOTES
1
General Assembly in 1948. Eleanor Roosevelt was the U.S. representative
to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and a lead drafter of the
UDHR. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Articles 28 and 29,
entry into force September 2, 1990, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/
pdf/crc.pdf. The CRC has been ratifed by 193 countries. The United States
(U.S.) has signed but not ratifed the CRC.
2
Id. United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General
Comment 1, The Aims of Education, CRC/GC/2001/1, http://www.unhchr.
ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(symbol)/CRC.GC.2001.1.En?OpenDocument.
3
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), entry into force January 4 1969, http://www2.
ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/cerd.pdf. The U.S. signed and ratifed CERD in
1994, which means that the U.S. is bound by law to the treaty.
4
Association (APA) Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2006, http://www.apa.org/
pubs/journals/releases/ZTTFReportBODRevisions5-15.pdf.
5
Louisiana Department of Education, District Composite Reports 2007-
2008, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/pair/1613.aspx. (Available for download
in excel fle.) The total number of students enrolled in Louisiana schools was
681,038.
6
Louisiana Revised Statute RS 17:416, 2009, http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/
lss.asp?doc=81024.
7
U.S. Department of Education, Offce of Civil Rights Data Collection 2006,
http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Projections_2006.aspx.
8
Id.
9
10
Louisiana Department of Education, 2007-2008 Louisiana State Education
Progress Report, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/uploads/14235.pdf.
11
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Top 10 Charter Communities
by Market Share, Fourth Annual Edition, October 2009, http://www.
publiccharters.org/fles/publications/MarketShare_P4.pdf.
12
available for download in excel fle compiled for the 33 RSD direct-run, non-
charter schools in the 2007-2008 school year.)
13
14
15
16
The surveys were not gathered from a representative sample of New
Orleans public school students, but rather from students that were more
likely to have been involved in disciplinary incidents in the past. Therefore,
one third of the surveys were collected from an Alternative School where
students are sent during the term of a disciplinary removal. Those students
had been previously suspended and/or expelled from RSD middle schools.
Information on the breakdown of survey respondents is provided on page
4. In some cases, survey responses do not add up to 100% because some
students left individual responses blank. Regarding suspensions, some
answers add up to more than 100% because students listed multiple answers
for different suspensions.
17
Louisiana Department of Education, Education Progress Reports and
District Composite Reports 2000-2001 through 2007-2008. During the
same period, the total number of students enrolled in Louisiana schools
decreased from 741,533 to 681,038.
18
19
available for download in excel fle compiled for the 33 RSD direct-run, non-
charter schools in the 2007-2008 school year, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/
pair/1613.aspx.) Suspension rates are based on total enrollment in schools
reported as of February 2008.
20
21
Schools, 2008-2009.
22
23
Numbers and percentages do not add up to 100% for all survey questions
because some respondents left individual questions blank.
24
25
26
27
Id.
28
Schools, 2008-2009.
29
The following fndings are based on the results of 95 surveys collected by
FFLIC from middle and high school students in 15 RSD public schools.
30
31
Id
32
2008.
33
34
2008.
35
Louisiana Department of Education, District Composite Reports. 2007-
2008.
36
37
38
Id.
39
40
41
Id.
30 Endnotes
Endnotes 31
42
Recovery School District, FY 2009 Operating Budget, June 18, 2008, http://
www.rsdla.net/Libraries/Budget_Finance/FY_2009-_RSD_OPERATING_
BUDGET.sfb.ashx.
43
44
ssf/2009/05/security_guards_laid_off_from.html
45
46
aspx.)
47
48
com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/students_expelled_from_rsd_cha.html..
49
Id.
50
Louisiana State Department of Education, District Composite Reports,
2007-2008.
51
PBS News Hour, May 6, 2009.
52
Progress Report. http://www.pbisillinois.org/; Floridas Positive Behavior
Support Project Annual Report 2007-2008; http://fpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/index.
asp; Sharon Lewis, Ed., Improving School Climate: Findings from Schools
Climate.pdf.
53
Louisiana Constitution of 1974, Article VIII, Preamble and Section 1.
http://senate.legis.state.la.us/documents/Constitution/
54
General Assembly in 1948. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),
Articles 28 and 29, entry into force September 2, 1990. The CRC has been
ratifed by 193 countries. The U.S. has signed by not ratifed the CRC.
55
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 29.
56
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 28.
57
Alliance for Excellent Education, Understanding High School Graduation
Rates in Louisiana, July 2009, http://www.all4ed.org/fles/Louisiana_
wc.pdf.
58
Pedro Noguera, Preventing and Producing Violence: A Critical Analysis
of Responses to School Violence, Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 65 (2),
Summer 1995.
59
Tammy Johnson, et al., Racial Profling and Punishment in US Public
Schools: How Zero- Tolerance and High Stakes Testing Subvert Academic
Excellence and Racial Equity. Applied Research Center, October 2001.
60
Association (APA) Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2006.
61
Advancement Project, Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to
Jailhouse Track, 2005.
62
Id.
63
Id. Tammy Johnson et al., 2001.
64
National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education,
Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education, Table A-28-1.
65
Education Policy Briefs, 2 (3), 2004.
66
Id.
67
Russell Skiba et al., Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2006.
68
National Center for Education Statistics, Indicators of School Crime and
Safety 2008, Table 21.1.
69
Advancement Project, 2005.
70
Russell Skiba et al., Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2006.
71
U.S. Offce for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 2006 Civil
Rights Data Collection.
72
Russell Skiba et al., 2004.
73
M.E. Goertz, et al., Who drops out of high school and why?: Findings
from a national study, Teachers College Record, 87, 357-73, www.tcrecord.
org/Content.asp?ContentId=688.
74
Caroline Wolf Harlow, Education and correctional populations, Bureau
of Justice Statistics, 2003.
75
Snyder, Howard N., and Sickmund, Melissa. 2006. Juvenile Offenders
and Victims, 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Justice, Offce of Justice Programs, Offce of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention
76
Henry Levin and Clive Belfeld, The Cost and Benefts of An Excellent
Education, 2007, http://www.cbcse.org/modules/download_gallery/
dl.php?fle=35.
77
CRC, Articles 28 and 29. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,
General Comment 1.
78
Louisiana State Department of Education, 2007-2008.
79
louisianakidscount2009.pdf
80
Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009.
81
Id.
82
Louisiana State Highlights 2010, Quality Counts 2010, Education Week.
83
Agenda for Children, Louisiana Kids Count 2009.
84
85
House Committee on Appropriations, FY 10-11 Executive Budget Review,
Youth Services, March 10, 2010.
86
87
Data obtained from the Recovery School District, Number of students
attending public schools in Orleans Parish and processed through Municipal
Courts.
88
Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, The New Orleans Index,
Tracking the Recovery of New Orleans & the Metro Area, August 2009,
https://gnocdc.s3.amazonaws.com/NOLAIndex/ESNOLAIndex.pdf.
89
Nghana Lewis, After Katrina: Poverty, Politics and Performance in New
Orleans Public Schools, (forthcoming, April 2010).
90
Louisiana Legislative Act RS:171990A(1).
91
Louisiana Legislative Act 193.
92
93
Id..
94
Louisiana Legislative Act 25.
95
Quigley, 2007.
32 Endnotes
96
Lewis, 2010.
97
Recovery School District, School Directory, 2009-2010, http://www.rsdla.
net/Libraries/Students_and_Families/2009-2010_RSD_School_directory.
sfb.ashx.
98
New Orleans Parent Organizing Network, New Orleans Parents Guide to
Public Schools, October 2009.
99
Id.
100
Id.
101
102
Louisiana Department of Education, District Composite Reports
2007-2008. http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/pair/1613.aspx. (Available for
download in excel fle.)
103
Interviews with members of Citizens for Local Control.
104
The Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives at Tulane
University, The State of Public Education in New Orleans: 2008, http://
education.tulane.edu/documents/080417SPENOReportFINAL.pdf, April
2008.
105
Nghana Lewis, After Katrina: Poverty, Politics and Performance in New
Orleans Public Schools, (forthcoming), April 2010. House Bill 187, R.S.
17:3973(2)(b)(iii) and (iv); Act 278.
106
Quigley, 2007. Interviews with members of Citizens for Local Control.
107
PBS, May 6, 2009. Sarah Carr, Students expelled from RSD charter schools
disappear in state records, The Times-Picayune, February 09, 2009.
108
Skiba et al, APA, 2006.
109
Louisiana Department of Education, Education Progress Reports
and District Composite Reports 2000-2001 and 2007-2008. Available for
download in excel fle at http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/pair/1613.aspx.
The total number of students enrolled in Louisiana schools decreased from
741,533 to 681,038.
110
Louisiana Revised Statute RS 17:416, 2009, http://www.legis.state.la.us/
lss/lss.asp?doc=81024.
111
112
Louisiana Revised Statute RS 17:416.
113
non-charter schools in the 2007-2008 school year, http://www.doe.state.
la.us/lde/pair/1613.aspx.) Suspension rates are based on total enrollment in
schools reported as of February 2008.
114
Id.
115
Elizabeth Sullivan, Deprived of Dignity: Degrading Treatment and
Abusive Discipline in New York City and Los Angeles Public Schools,
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), March 2007.
116
2007-2008.
117
Recovery School District, Positive School Culture: 2008-2009 Student
Code of Conduct, http://www.rsdla.net/Files/2008-2009%20Student%20C
ode%20of%20Conduct.pdf.
118
Id.
119
Data Obtained from the Recovery School District, RSD District-Run
Schools,, 2008-2009.
120
121
Regarding suspensions, some answers add up to more than 100% because
students surveyed were suspended more than once and listed different
answers for each suspensions.
122
Advancement Project, 2005.
123
124
C. McNeely, et al., Promoting student connectedness to school: Evidence
from the national Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Journal
of School Health, 72, 138-147, 2002. Surgeon Generals Report on Youth
Violence, 2001.
125
Louisiana Department of Education, 2007-2008 Louisiana State
Education Progress Report, http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/uploads/14235.
pdf.
126
Louisiana Revised Statute RS 17:416. Schools are also required to
immediately suspend and recommend for expulsion any student who is
found carrying or possessing a frearm or another dangerous instrumentality
other than a knife, or who possesses, distributes, sells, gives, or loans any
controlled dangerous substance.
127
128
129
Louisiana Revised Statute RS 17:416.
130
Louisiana Department of Education, Education Progress Report 2007-2008.
U.S. Offce of Civil Rights Data Collection 2006.
131
Id.
132
Schools, 2008-2009.
133
Expulsions/Upheld Expulsions/Transferred Expulsions, 2007-2008 and
RSD District-Run Schools, 2008-2009.
134
Expulsions/Upheld Expulsions/Transferred Expulsions, 2007-2008
135
M.S. Reimer and T. Cash, Alternative Schools: Best Practices for
Development and Evaluation, National Dropout Prevention Center, 2003.
136
137
Recovery School District, Multiple Pathways Network, http://www.rsdla.
net/StudentsAndFamilies/MultiplePathwaysNetwork.aspx.
138
Texas Appleseed, Texas School-to-Prison Pipeline Dropout to
Incarceration: The Impact of School Discipline and Zero Tolerance, 2007.
139
140
141
Id.
142
143
144
Id.
145
2008.
146
Id.
147
Based on analysis of data from the Louisiana Department of Education,
District Composite Reports, 2007-2008.
148
149
150
Id.
151
Recovery School District, FY 2009 Operating Budget, June 18,
2008, http://www.rsdla.net/Libraries/Budget_Finance/FY_2009-_RSD_
OPERATING_BUDGET.sfb.ashx.
152
153
ssf/2009/05/security_guards_laid_off_from.html
154
Id.
155
The number of students for every SRO was calculated using a total of
77 SROs in a student population of 12,700 students in RSD direct-run
schools.
156
Common Core of Data (CCD), State Nonfscal Survey of Public
Elementary/Secondary Education, 2005-06 v.1a
157
Russell Skiba et al., APA report, 2009.
158
159
Deborah Smith & Brian Smith, Perceptions of Violence: The views of
teachers who left urban schools, The High School Journal, Feb/Mar 2006.
160
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General
Comment 13, The right to education.
161
Quigley 2007.
162
Because several charter schools were magnet schools before they became
charters, under Louisiana law, they have more fexibility to transfer students.
In most states, charter schools are not allowed to adopt these policies of
magnet schools.
163
PBS, May 6, 2009, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june09/
nolacharter_05-06.html. Sarah Carr, Students expelled from RSD charter
schools disappear in state records, The Times-Picayune, February 09, 2009,
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/students_expelled_from_
rsd_cha.html.
164
165
Id. Expulsions were also under-reported by the state for some of the 33
RSD non-charter schools as well.
166
aspx.)
167
Sarah Carr, The Times-Picayune, February 09, 2009.
168
Id
169
Data obtained from the Recovery School District, Charter School Report
2009-2010.

170
Though a few OPSB charter schools do select students based on grades.
171
PBS Newshour, May 6, 2009.
172
Id.
173
Louisiana Department of Education Data 2008-2009.
174
PBS Newshour, May 6, 2009.
175
176
OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions
and Supports (PBIS), http://www.pbis.org.
177
Illinois Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Network,
http://www.pbisillinois.org/.
178
Progress Report. http://www.pbisillinois.org/
179
Id.
180
Floridas Positive Behavior Support Project Annual Report 2007-2008.
http://fpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/index.asp
181
International Institute for Restorative Practices, http://www.iirp.org.
182
Caralee Adams, The Talk It Out Solution: How can you promote safety?
Try getting rid of the metal detectors, Scholastic Administrator, November/
December 2008. See video: The Transformation of West Philadelphia High
School: A Story of Hope http://www.iirp.org/westphilahigh/
183
Sharon Lewis, Ed., Improving School Climate: Findings from Schools
Climate.pdf
184
Bradley Olson and Judah Viola, Chicago Public Schools High School
Peer Jury Program Evaluation Report, DePaul University, September 2007.
185
Advancement Project, Model Legislation, http://www.stopschoolstojails.
org/sites/default/fles/Model_Legislation_PDF_Changes.pdf.
186
Id. Florida State Law SB 1540, http://myforidahouse.gov/Sections/
Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_s1540er.DOCX&DocumentType=Bi
ll&BillNumber=1540&Session=2009
187
Advancement Project, Model Legislation. Indiana Code 20-26-5-32
(2009), http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2009/HE/HE1419.1.html.
188
Advancement Project, Model Legislation. Alaska Statute 14.33.110
(2009) & Alaska Stat. 14.33.120 (2009),
http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title14/Chapter33/
Section110.htm and
http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title14/Chapter33/
Section120.htm
Endnotes 33
Notes
NatiONal EcONOmic aNd SOcial RightS iNitiativE (NESRi)
90 John Street, Suite 308 New York, NY 10038
Ph: 212-253-1710 [email protected] www.nesri.org
FamiliES aNd FRiENdS OF lOuiSiaNaS iNcaRcERatEd childREN (FFlic)
1600 Oretha castle haley Blvd. New Orleans, la 70113
Ph: 504-522-5437 www.ffic.org

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t

Over 70% said at least one of their suspensions

Executive Summary iii

When we compare districts across the state of Louisiana,

The Board of Elementary and Secondary

The Board of Elementary and Secondary

policies on youth of color by ensuring that

support teams or mediation, and implementing

24 Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline

Positive Approaches to School Climate and Discipline 25

Ensuring that all students in all school

Hire or contract with a compliance offcer

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