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Statement

MomsRising Praises Mayor Bill De Blasio for Taking Steps to End the School-To-Prison Pipeline and Presses for More

July 22, 2016
School-to-Prison Pipeline

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

NYC Mayor’s Leadership Team on School Discipline Recommends End to All School Suspensions for Grades K-2
NEW YORK CITY -- Earlier today, the NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio’s Leadership Team on School Discipline and Climate released their final recommendations calling for an end to all school suspensions for children grades K-2.
 
In reaction to the decision, Monifa Bandele, Senior Campaign Director for MomsRising issued the following statement praising the Mayor’s Leadership Team for taking steps to end the school-to-prison pipeline and urging him to take on additional reforms:
 
“We applaud New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Mayor’s Leadership Team on School Discipline and Climate for their recommendations that recognize that suspending kids grades K-2 does little to advance school safety and rather promotes a dangerous school-to-prison pipeline. Much more is needed, but this move is an important step in reforming school discipline and promoting social emotional development for New York City’s youngest elementary schoolers.  
 
“Right now, school suspensions disproportionately impacted 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 through the school system as a whole
 
“School should be a pathway to success, not a pipeline to prison. 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.”
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.