An Effective but Exhausting Alternative to High-School Suspensions

On September 7, the New York Times opened up a discussion about the failure of traditional forms of school discipline and how progressive educators have been finding increasing support for their efforts to use alternatives to suspensions, which are ineffective, inequitable and feed the school-to-prison pipeline—mostly with students of color. As an example of how alternatives to high-school suspensions are being put into practice, the story highlighted a high school in New York City that was using PEG Founder Glenn E. Singleton’s book, “Courageous Conversations About Race,” to guide weekly discussions among teachers about matters of discipline. “The book asks participants to dig deep into their own uncomfortable feelings about race, and to consider how that range of reactions might affect the educational experience of students of color,” the story reported. “It asks participants to answer questions designed to make people push past politeness and self-protection.”