Suspending students isn’t the answer. Restorative justice programs in schools are a better solution. | Opinion

Three million school students are suspended every year and over 100,000 are expelled for disruptive behaviors and other infractions. Last year, 56,000 students were suspended in New Jersey. Suspended and expelled students are missing millions of instructional days But does removing students from school reduce the incidence of aberrant behavior? The short answer is no, yet schools have relied on suspension as the primary means of dealing with discipline problems. Senior policy fellows Linda Stamato and Sandy Jaffe explain why schools are turning to a form of conflict resolution called restorative justice in an attempt to reach beyond punitive measures to solve problems before they escalate and threaten the fabric of the school community.

NJ.com Opinion, March 20, 2022