Moms across the country are applauding Maryland legislation that significantly restricts disciplinary actions like suspensions and expulsions of public school students in pre-K through second grade, which passed in April and has been officially made law. The new law will ban expulsion as a penalty for children in almost all cases, and restrict the use of suspensions only to narrow, case-by-case circumstances.
 
In response to the new law, Monifa Bandele, Vice President of MomsRising, issued the following statement: 
 
“With more than 2,000 of Maryland’s youngest students suspended last year, moms know that this is a crisis that hurts families and children and makes our schools less effective. Every child deserves a good education, and our schools should provide a pathway to success, not a pipeline to prison.

“The reality is that school suspensions disproportionately affect children with disabilities and children of color. Students with disabilities are four times more likely to be suspended than students without disabilities. Black students with disabilities represent more than 50 percent of suspended students with disabilities. Black students also served longer suspensions on average and were more likely to be suspended for subjective misconduct like insubordination. This practice and profiling has got to stop, not only in kindergarten through 2nd grade, but throughout the public school system.
 
“That’s why moms across Maryland applaud the State Legislature for passing legislation that would eliminate out-of-school suspension for children in second grade or lower and for pushing it to be made law. Only by demilitarizing our schools and investing in and expanding the use of social emotional development, restorative justice and trauma-informed care in schools - which includes non-punitive discipline models like peer mediation and conflict resolution - can we create a positive and healthy school environment that sets all kids up for success.  
 
“We are additionally encouraged by the creation of a Commission on the School-To-Prison Pipeline, setup to study the link between discipline and student arrests, and expand the use of restorative practices.  

“Taken together, this will help ensure that schools will always be a pathway to success and that all kids are put in a position to thrive.

“But there is still plenty of work to be done in the state. Last week, Governor Hogan vetoed a bill that would enable 700,000 Marylanders to earn and use paid sick days. The bill passed both the house and the Senate with enough votes to override the Governor's veto. We call upon our state legislators to override the veto in January and pass the Healthy Working Families Act (HB1).”