NYSUT leaders joined other education advocates to testify before state senators at a hearing Wednesday on the Judith Kaye Solutions Not Suspensions Act.
While NYSUT supports the proposed legislation in its intent and agrees the best place for students is in the classroom, we have reservations about the implementation and impact on educators, students and classrooms. NYSUT agreed to work with the sponsor of the bill to address the issue of school discipline.
REMARKS TO THE COMMITTEE
Melinda Person, President, NYSUT
Chairperson Mayer, Chairperson Liu, honorable members of the Legislature and distinguished staff, I am Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you about the Solutions Not Suspensions Act.
I first want to acknowledge the students who just spoke before our panel. I want to salute their courage and bravery to come here, and we do value your voices in this room so thank you. NYSUT is fighting for the kind of supports that you told us in your personal stories are severely lacking.
I want to make one thing crystal clear at the outset: NYSUT wholeheartedly supports the intent of this legislation and agrees that the best place for students is in our schools.
Keeping students out of school does nothing to address the cause of their behavior, while generating disengagement and forcing students to fall significantly behind in class. Students shouldn’t be suspended for minor infractions like the stories that you’ve heard today.
Suspensions have become an all-too-common punishment in some school districts that disproportionately impact students of color, those with special needs and LGBTQ students.
This is a grave injustice that contributes to the cycle of educational inequality. This is a systemic issue and it must be addressed. It’s one of the reasons that NYSUT has been pushing for implicit bias training for educators and all education staff.
While we acknowledge the problem, we have reservations about the implementation of this bill and its impacts on educators, students and classrooms. Put simply, while we agree that suspensions are not the answer, we know that there’s also a need to focus on addressing underlying factors that lead to disruptive behavior in the first place. This should include providing students with additional staff support, such as counselors and social workers, teaching assistants and other support staff. It also means implementing restorative justice practices with fidelity including community buy-in, appropriate time devoted to professional development and a roll-out that is effective and not just superficial in nature.
We need to empower school districts and local communities to come together to develop plans to address the causes of the behavior in a preventative way.
Our concerns come from the real-world classroom experience of our members, who have a duty to educate and support all their students. Our students deserve a more comprehensive set of reforms and support systems than currently being offered. We look forward to working with the sponsors on this bill for amendments so this legislation can address the concerns.
Cordelia Anthony, President, Farmingdale Federation of Teachers
My name is Cordelia Anthony and I have been a teacher in the Farmingdale school district on Long Island since 1999. I am also president of the Farmingdale Federation of Teachers.
I love being a science educator and creating real-world experiences in the classroom that engage students in learning and skill-building.
While I love my job, to say that the last few years have been difficult is an understatement. Even in relatively quiet, suburban Farmingdale, our schools have had an uptick in student outbursts and misbehavior. Our students have suffered losses of family members and friends. They are dealing with anxiety and other feelings they're unsure how to explain or manage.
In our district, we implement restorative practices, utilize programs that can address these issues at their root cause and provide options outside of traditional suspensions. We've seen some success, but our current resources are stretched thin.
Restorative practices that help all students need additional support, including social workers and other mental health staff.
Farmingdale is privileged to have counselors and psychologists in our buildings, but the staffing levels can't keep pace. In my high school, we have only two social workers to serve about 1800 students.
The good news is that when we do have sufficient staffing and support to work with our troubled students, we see results and we can avoid using quick and potentially damaging methods like suspensions.
As educators, what we want most is for our students — ALL our students — to learn and be given every chance to succeed.
What we need now are solutions that address real-world needs, build on the restorative successes we've had so far and provide us with the resources to support all of our students.
Thank you for your time and thoughtful attention to this.
Andy Jordan, President, BOCES United Professionals at Monroe 1 BOCES
Good afternoon, Chairperson Mayer, Chairperson Liu, and committee members; I am Andrew Jordan. I am a Special Educator at Monroe #1 BOCES in Fairport, where I have taught for twenty-three years.
I am a local and regional union leader and the parent of two.
I am here today to offer a classroom perspective about the real-world implications of S.1040, a bill my fellow educators and I support in its intent but not its implementation.
Students learn best in safe schools where they feel safe, valued, respected and loved.
I believe this bill, as proposed, provides an inadequate roadmap toward achieving this goal.
The Monroe #1 BOCES alternative education program has endeavored to incorporate and employ restorative practices. In lieu of a disciplinary approach to problematic behaviors, staff have attempted to engage in cooperative and supportive conversations with students and families.
But without adequate resources or time and without buy-in from the entire school community, including families, the process is filled with challenges that prevent any real change.
I work with students who have behavioral issues that require different types of restorative practices than one might find in a traditional public school. Without the proper staffing, training, and buy-in from families, the road to the destination this legislation envisions is much more challenging.
We should aim to enact a better bill: One that includes the voices of professionals in my field, that includes professional development, and supports the consistent roll-out of restorative practice based on research and evidence.
We need a plan that does not require a learner to return to an unrestored environment, creating uncertainty and fear. We need a bill that allows all learners the safe, positive, and loving learning environment needed to realize their success.
If we endeavor to write a bill that achieves the above, suspensions will organically and naturally decrease.