Tara Williams got a jarring phone call: Her 5-year-old son was being suspended from his Chicago school after throwing a chair and books at another student.
She later learned that the boy was trying to tell his teacher about being bullied by other children, but a speech impediment prevented the teacher from understanding, Williams said.
"Other kids were messing with him," she said. "He was upset." tara williams
Tara Williams, parent
Following the incident three years ago, Williams joined a group of South Side parents fighting to end Chicago Public Schools’ suspensions of young students. The group, Southside Parents United, also challenges the district to find alternatives to such punishment.
In the 2013-14 school year, the most recent available, Illinois public school kindergarteners were suspended at least 2,090 times, state data show. Public preschool students were suspended at least 58 times. The cause of suspensions -- including in- and out-of-school sanctions and a small number of outright expulsions -- range from classroom disruptions to bullying or fighting. …show more content…
In Chicago, there were 368 suspensions of kindergartners, also down from the previous year but up significantly from two years prior.
Parents such as Williams and a number of child development experts say suspension should be an absolute last resort for all school-aged students and there ought to be an outright ban on such discipline for children in preschool through second grade. Suspension can increase the likelihood of a student dropping out of high school and the punishments disproportionately target African-Americans and children with disabilities, critics
She later learned that the boy was trying to tell his teacher about being bullied by other children, but a speech impediment prevented the teacher from understanding, Williams said.
"Other kids were messing with him," she said. "He was upset." tara williams
Tara Williams, parent
Following the incident three years ago, Williams joined a group of South Side parents fighting to end Chicago Public Schools’ suspensions of young students. The group, Southside Parents United, also challenges the district to find alternatives to such punishment.
In the 2013-14 school year, the most recent available, Illinois public school kindergarteners were suspended at least 2,090 times, state data show. Public preschool students were suspended at least 58 times. The cause of suspensions -- including in- and out-of-school sanctions and a small number of outright expulsions -- range from classroom disruptions to bullying or fighting. …show more content…
In Chicago, there were 368 suspensions of kindergartners, also down from the previous year but up significantly from two years prior.
Parents such as Williams and a number of child development experts say suspension should be an absolute last resort for all school-aged students and there ought to be an outright ban on such discipline for children in preschool through second grade. Suspension can increase the likelihood of a student dropping out of high school and the punishments disproportionately target African-Americans and children with disabilities, critics