It should be a last resort so why is South Carolina first in preschool suspensions? | Opinion
A landmark study in 2005 found that 1 in 10 teachers in nearly 4,000 public preschool classrooms had expelled at least one student the prior year. The expulsion rate was more than three times that for K-12 students, and alarm bells began ringing all over the country.
In the 19 years since, lawmakers, education officials, teachers, parents and students themselves have worked very hard in many states to greatly reduce preschool suspensions that are so often precursors to other, more serious problems. But not in South Carolina.
The problem here is worse than ever and worse than any other state. It’s embarrassing, especially when the problem and solutions were identified so long ago. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education in 2014 said preschool expulsions and suspensions should be so rare that “these exclusionary measures should be used only as a last resort in extraordinary circumstances where there is a determination of a serious safety threat.”
Citing data showing excessive discipline, research proving its negative effects on education and life, and stark racial and gender disparities, the feds advised, “These disturbing trends warrant immediate attention from the early childhood and education fields to prevent, severely limit, and work toward eventually eliminating the expulsion and suspension — and ensure the safety and well-being — of young children in early learning settings.”
And yet South Carolina’s preschool suspensions have quadrupled since the 2011-12 school year, when the U.S. government first shared data from all schools in all 50 states. For every school year it’s been compared, South Carolina has had not only the highest rate of preschool suspensions but also among the most numerically. Only Texas had more in 2013-14 and 2015-16 and only Florida had more in 2020-21 when the pandemic substantially reduced the number of preschool suspensions nationwide.
No state suspended more preschoolers than South Carolina in 2017-18.
That school year it suspended 438 preschoolers, nearly as many as the 518 Texas and Georgia suspended between them to be in the top three states. Last school year, South Carolina suspended 928 preschoolers, according to data released this week.
Those alarm bells that started ringing in 2005? They should be so loud that action is inevitable.
Students subjected to such discipline so young are more likely to be suspended or expelled again, more likely to do poorly in school, more likely to drop out of school and more likely to wind up as unproductive members of society, if not behind bars. There are also economic costs as such students start work later in life and sometimes not at all. These students are disproportionately boys and disproportionately Black.
The solutions are obvious and effective where there is political will to help the most vulnerable members of society, 3- and 4-year-olds who would benefit from teachers better trained to handle misconduct or bad behavior or learning hurdles of kids who just don’t know any better yet.
Require the training. Provide the training. And bolster the training with ongoing professional development, help from behavioral and mental health experts, developmentally appropriate interventions, discipline that doesn’t discriminate, and time for teachers to adjust. As the U.S. said in 2014, the goal could be to reduce suspensions and expulsions by 25% in one year, 50% in two years and 75% in three years.
As of May 2021, at least 15 states had restrictions on the use of suspensions and/or expulsions for students based on grade level or age, and at least 14 prohibited it for attendance or tardiness issues.
And yet last session the General Assembly failed to vote on a bill that would have offered clear definitions and provided more education and training for teachers and staff, among other laudable goals. This week, one state official cast doubt on the suspension data, saying it might be inflated because school districts define suspension differently, and another official minimized the problem of soaring suspensions, saying he was encouraged that more students were enrolling in preschool since the end of the pandemic. Those arguments miss the point.
The problem exists. It is bad for students and for society. Also, the situation has been the worst in the nation for over 10 years, and it’s only getting worse. The data is clear. It’s time to fix this.
This story was originally published August 22, 2024 at 6:00 AM.