BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 420
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 420 (Dickinson) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
SUBJECT : Pupil discipline: suspensions: willful defiance
SUMMARY : Removes disrupting school activities or otherwise
willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school officials, or other school personnel as a
reason to suspend or recommend for expulsion, any pupil in
kindergarten through grade 5. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that a pupil enrolled in grades 6 through 12 may be
suspended from school on or after the third time in a school
year for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully
defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school officials, or other school personnel,
provided other means of correction were attempted before the
recommendation to suspend.
2)Specifies that disrupting school activities or otherwise
willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors,
teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school
personnel engaged in the performance of their duties shall not
constitute grounds for a pupil to be recommended for
expulsion.
3)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to minimize the
excessive use of willful defiance as a reason to impose
in-school and off-campus removals and to encourage schools to
instead prioritize and use alternative means of correction.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a pupil may be suspended or expelled for
committing any of the following offenses:
a) Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause
physical injury to another person; or willfully using force
or violence upon another person, except in self-defense;
b) Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm,
knife, explosive, or other dangerous object;
c) Unlawfully possessing, using, selling or otherwise
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furnishing a controlled substance;
d) Unlawfully offering, arranging or negotiating to sell a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant
of any kind;
e) Committing or attempting to commit robbery or extortion;
f) Causing or attempting to cause damage to school property
or private property;
g) Stealing or attempting to steal school property or
private property;
h) Possessing or using tobacco, or products containing
tobacco or nicotine products;
i) Committing an obscene act or engaging in habitual
profanity or vulgarity;
j) Unlawfully possessing or unlawfully offering, arranging
or negotiating to sell drug paraphernalia;
aa) Disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully
defying the authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school officials or other school personnel
engaged in the performance of their duties;
bb) Knowingly receive stolen school property or private
property;
cc) Possessing an imitation firearm;
dd) Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault or
sexual battery;
ee) Harassing, threatening or intimidating a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary
proceeding in order to prevent the pupil from being a
witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a
witness, or both;
ff) Unlawfully offering, arranging to sell, or negotiating
to sell the prescription drug Soma;
gg) Engaging in or attempting to engage in hazing;
hh) Engaging in the act of bullying, including, but not
limited to, bullying committed by means of an electronic
act;
ii) Committing sexual harassment (grades 4 through 12 only);
jj) Causing or attempting to cause, threatening to cause, or
participating in an act of hate violence (grades 4 through
12 only);
aaa) Engaging in harassment, threats, or intimidation against
school district personnel or pupils that have the effect of
disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder and
invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by
creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment
(grades 4 through 12 only); and,
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bbb) Making a terroristic threat against school officials or
school property, or both. (Education Code (EC) Sections
48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7)
2)Provides that a suspension shall only be imposed when other
means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct.
Specifies that other means of correction may include, but are
not limited to, the following:
a) A conference between school personnel, the pupil's
parent or guardian, and the pupil;
b) Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social
worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school
support service personnel for case management and
counseling;
c) Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or
other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior,
and develop and implement individualized plans to address
the behavior in partnership with the pupil and his or her
parents;
d) Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or
psychoeducational assessment;
e) Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior
or anger management;
f) Participation in a restorative justice program;
g) A positive behavior support approach with tiered
interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus;
and,
h) After school programs that address specific behavioral
issues or expose pupils to positive activities and
behaviors. (EC Section 48900.5)
3)Authorizes a principal or superintendent to require a pupil to
perform community service on school grounds, or with written
permission of the parents or guardians, off school grounds,
during the pupil's nonschool hours as part of or instead of
disciplinary action. (EC Section 48900.6)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Legislative Counsel, this bill
is non-fiscal. However, the Assembly Committee on Rules has
determined that there is potential fiscal effect and has
referred the bill to the Assembly Appropriations Committee upon
passage from this Committee.
COMMENTS : A University of California, Los Angeles' Civil Rights
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Project October 2011 brief titled "Discipline Policies,
Successful Schools, and Racial Justice," report that data
gathered by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights shows disparity in suspensions and expulsions for Black
students, especially males, and students with disabilities. An
analysis of data collected in 2006 shows that 28% of Black male
middle school students were suspended at least once, while the
rate was 10% for white males. The report argues that
disciplinary actions that result in exclusion from school cause
students to miss important instructional time and may result in
a "greater risk of disengagement and diminished educational
opportunities."
Research also shows that students with frequent suspensions are
at greater risk of becoming involved in gangs, dropping out of
school and becoming a part of the juvenile justice system.
Efforts undertaken by districts in California, including the Los
Angeles Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School
District, and Alhambra Unified School District, and in other
states are beginning to show positive results of not using
punitive measures like suspension and expulsions and more
alternative practices that emphasize restorative justice
(reflections of one's behavior), counseling, referrals to drug
treatment and other social services, within the school setting.
Suspensions and expulsions . Under existing law, a principal or
a superintendent may suspend or expel a pupil for committing any
of a number of specified acts, including "disruption of school
activities or willful defiance." The California Department of
Education (CDE) reports that in 2010-11, of a total enrollment
of 6,174,717, there were 700,884 suspensions and 18,649
expulsions. The CDE does not yet report disaggregated data that
show the causes for suspensions and expulsions and only provides
the categories that are required for federal reporting purposes,
which includes the categories of "violent drug expulsion,"
"non-student firearm incidents," and "persistently dangerous
expulsions." Using the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System (CALPADS), school districts began to
report student-level data in 2011-12, which will provide access
to more detailed and specific data, including those broken down
by the type of offenses that cause suspension or expulsion.
According to the CDE, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
will be unveiling the new data system on April 19th.
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This bill is a modified version of AB 2242 (Dickinson)
introduced last year. The bill removed disrupting of school
activities or otherwise willfully defying the authority of
school or school district officials as a reason for suspending
or recommending expulsion for all grade levels. The Governor
vetoed the bill with the following statement:
"I cannot support limiting the authority of local
school leaders, especially at a time when budget cuts
have greatly increased class sizes and reduced the
number of school personnel. It is important that
teachers and school officials retain broad discretion
to manage and set the tone in the classroom.
The principle of subsidiarity calls for greater, not
less, deference to our elected school boards which are
directly accountable to the citizenry."
This bill keeps this category for suspension of pupils in
grades 6 through 12 and only after the third time a pupil
is found to have disrupted school activities or willfully
defied the authority of school officials. This bill also
removes the authority to use this category for the
expulsion of pupils.
The author estimates that 42% of suspensions are due to willful
defiance. This is consistent with national estimates. Public
Counsel, one of the sponsors of the bill, states that
nationally, from 2005 to 2007, school disciplinary exclusions
for insubordination accounted for roughly 43% of the total,
whereas only 0.7% were for use or possession of a firearm or
explosive. Some examples of district level data provided by the
author's office include the following:
Kern Union High School District reported 13,916
suspensions during 2009-10 and identified willful defiance
as the most severe grounds for 57% of its suspensions.
Clovis Unified reported 5,279 suspensions during 2009-10
and identified willful defiance as the most severe grounds
for 71% of its suspensions.
Manteca Unified School District reported 4,849
suspensions in 2010-2011 and identified willful defiance as
the most severe grounds for 61% of its suspensions.
Santa Rosa City Schools reported some 2,820 suspensions
for its five largest high schools and identified willful
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defiance as the most severe grounds for 61% of these
suspensions.
Disruption of school activities and willful defiance . According
to supporters, this category is broad and can encompass a number
of offenses, from not following a teacher's direction, talking
back to a teacher, not turning in homework, to throwing
furniture. Compared with offenses that require expulsion, such
as bringing a knife or firearm to school, these types of
offenses could be considered minor, although teachers would
argue that these behaviors can cause major interference to
students' learning environment in the classroom. The issue is
how to address these types of behaviors. Those who advocate for
anti-punitive measures would argue that these students can be
reformed through personal reflections and positive
interventions. Others would argue that not having the ability
to impose out-of-school suspensions would send the message that
these types of behaviors are not serious.
Willful defiance as a catch-all . This category appears to be a
catch-all category for suspending a pupil as there is no
definition of what constitutes willful defiance. While the goal
to keep students in class and in school is a positive goal,
teachers and administrators should also have the ability to take
action if one student's behavior prevents a teacher from
effectively carrying out instructional activities, which can
hurt the remainder of the class. If willful defiance will
continue to be used, the author may wish to consider developing
a definition to clarify the actions that constitute willful
defiance of school authority.
Changing culture . Several bills were introduced last year
attempting to reduce the use of punitive, zero-tolerance
measures and focus, instead, on alternatives to address the
causes of a pupil's behavior. While these bills are one
component in changing pupil and staff behavior, changing the
culture of a school from a less punitive environment to a more
positive one and to implement positive behavioral programs, such
as restorative justice programs, require training and support
from all school staff as well as sufficient counselors, mental
health providers, and other school personnel.
Arguments in Support . The author states, "More than two decades
of research has confirmed that out-of-school suspensions do not
work. They do not improve student behavior and, in fact, often
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exacerbate the problem. In addition, students who are subjected
to out-of-school discipline not only lose important
instructional time, they are far more likely to drop out of
school and enter the juvenile justice system, at great cost to
the state. One study found that with respect to detained youth
that more than "80 percent . . . had been suspended . . . and
more than 50 percent had been expelled from school prior to
their incarceration." Whereas students whose problem behaviors
are addressed proactively with research-based supports and
interventions in school and with parents are more likely to
remain in school and on track."
Arguments in Opposition . The California School Boards
Association (CSBA) states, "while it is important to provide
alternative programs and methods to address the needs of
students rather than just suspension and expulsion, it is just
as important to ensure that schools have the resources and staff
necessary to provide those alternatives. CSBA remains concerned
about the lack of training for school personnel to communicate
and deal with willfully defiant students without suspending
them. Further, there will also need to be the resources to
provide additional classroom space and teachers for in-school
suspension programs."
Previous legislation . AB 2242 (Dickinson), vetoed by the
Governor last year, would have prohibited pupils who are found
to have disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully
defied the authority of school or school district officials from
being subject to extended suspension, or recommended for
expulsion or expelled.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Brothers Sons Selves Coalition (co-sponsor)
Children Now (co-sponsor)
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California (co-sponsor)
Public Counsel (co-sponsor)
American Civil Liberties Union
Black Organizing Project's Bettering Our School System Campaign
Black Parallel School Board
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California State PTA
Californians for Justice
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Children's Defense Fund-California
Children's Movement of California
Community Asset Development Re-defining Education
Community Coalition
Disability Rights California
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Disability Rights Legal Center
East Bay Children's Law Offices
Equality California
Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
InnerCity Struggle
Khmer Girls in Action
Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign
Legal Services for Children
Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade
Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc.
Peace Over Violence
Project: PeaceMakers, Inc.
Restorative Schools Vision Project
Violence Prevention Coalition
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Youth and Education Law Project
Youth Justice Coalition
Youth Law Center
Youth Leadership Institute
Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA
Many individuals
Opposition
California Federation of Teachers
California School Board Association (Oppose unless Amended)
Small School Districts' Association
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087