SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2250        FILED ON: 1/23/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

None

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
 Court assembled:

 The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act interrupting the school to prison pipeline.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2250        FILED ON: 1/23/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act interrupting the school to prison pipeline.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

 SECTION 1. Whereas, after a year of making improvements to decrease the suspension and expulsion rates, in compliance with Chapter 222 after it was once placed into law, the results were encouraging. Before the law, the rate that students were removed from the classroom showed Whites at 2.7%, Latinos at 8.4%, Disabilities at 8.5% and Blacks at 10.0%. This was a terrible time for education in Massachusetts.

 Whereas, voter attempts to curb the disparities in the use of school discipline measures have proven insufficient.

 Whereas, now discipline rates increased for students with disabilities: out-of-school suspension went from 5.5% to 5.8%; in-school-suspension went from 3.1% to 3.3.

 Whereas, this past year shows that a problem of removing students from the classroom has increased again. This increase maybe because of a legislative loop hole (53.07 Emergency Removal) that was not part of law that passed, that was inserted into the Code of Massachusetts Regulations: 53.00.

 SECTION 2. Therefore, be it enacted, there are systems and tools available, and in use in Massachusetts, that can help failing school districts to refocus on the goal of keeping students in the classroom.  The following systems and tools that work for students in diverse population are “Restorative Justice and “Personalized Learning (Summit Learning).

 The use of there types of systems and tools have demonstrated their values in keeping students in the classroom.  This bill would legislatively ensure that school districts with high rates of students being removed from the classrooms begin using these types of systems and tools that will help them do a better job of correcting their student removal problem.

 SECTION 3. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should track school districts with high student classroom removal rates so Massachusetts can help failing school districts to refocus on the goal keeping students in the classroom. This has been the “Law”, since the Chapter 222 Law was implemented July 1, 2014.

 Classroom removal to mandate that the districts use the systems and tools that have demonstrated their values in keeping students in the classroom. This bill will legislatively ensure that school districts with high rates of students being removed from the classrooms begin using these types of systems and tools that will help them do a better job of correcting their student removal problem.