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Calif. Students Rally to Address Inequities in Disciplinary Actions

Calif. Students Rally to Address Inequities in Disciplinary Actions

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The organization Fix School Discipline says these inequities especially affect students who are LGBT or black, or who have a disability.

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Students from throughout California and their supporters, noting inequities in school suspension policies, especially affecting LGBT youth and racial minorities, rallied this week in Sacramento for a legislative solution.

The group Fix School Discipline is urging Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill that would ban suspensions for students in the lower grades and promote alternatives to suspension in general. Activists with the organization say out-of-school suspensions have a negative effect on young people's education and often lead to involvement with the juvenile justice system. About half the out-of-school suspensions in California are for "willful defiance," which the group calls "a highly subjective category."

LGBT-identified Orange County student Cheyenne, who spoke at Wednesday's rally at the state capitol, said she was suspended for willful defiance after she defended a classmate against antigay bullying. "I heard some kids making fun of another classmate. They called him a 'faggot,' and that was deeply offensive and I told them so," she said. "The kids were trying to brush off what I said and we all started arguing, louder and louder. I got angry, and I cursed." Cheyenne, who is in foster care, ended up having "to beg for an in-school suspension" rather than an out-of-school one, as the latter could have caused her to lose her foster placement.

LGBT students are 1.4 times more likely to be suspended than others, black students four times more likely, and students with disabilities twice as likely, according to Fix School Discipline. Find out more about the group here.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.