Restoring order in America’s schools
The Education Department’s retreat from race-based school discipline guidance is a welcome change.
Still, in a new Wall Street Journal essay, Federalism in Action President Tony Woodlief warns that many districts remain committed to “restorative justice” policies that have weakened accountability and left students and teachers less safe. Federal pressure helped create the problem; now school boards, parents and state leaders must restore order locally.
As a product of mostly public schools, particularly in Hawaii and Mississippi, one of my greatest frustrations as a student was how often serial disruptors seemed to be allowed to derail the learning environment for everyone else.
—Ray Nothstine
From the essay:
There’s no mystery here: What teachers and parents weren’t told about restorative justice is that absence of discipline is a feature, not a bug.
— The Federalism Beat