Families and advocates across New York have fought for years to make our schools more equitable, and that work has brought important progress, but racism continues to shape how students are treated in school. Black and brown students are too often criminalized for their behavior, and Black students and students with disabilities disproportionately lose classroom time to suspensions. For families with lower incomes, a suspension can also mean missed wages and child care they cannot afford. By cutting off learning opportunities and adding financial strain on families, suspensions help sustain racial and economic inequalities across generations.
The Judith S. Kaye Solutions Not Suspensions Act would help change that. It would limit unnecessary suspensions and expand restorative approaches that keep students connected to learning. In 2019, the New York State Board of Regents, which helps set education policy statewide, adopted a resolution affirming its commitment to reducing reliance on exclusionary discipline. Relatedly, the Safe School Task Force’s recommendations, presented to the Board in January 2023, closely align with the bill. We appreciate this work and want the Regents to continue supporting the issue and help carry it forward by including Solutions Not Suspensions and $50 million for statewide implementation in their 2027 budget and legislative priorities.
Join us in asking Governor Hochul to include Solutions Not Suspensions and $50 million in her Executive Budget proposal this January, and asking the Board of Regents to champion both in their 2027 priorities. The Regents’ recommendations carry weight with the Governor and Legislature, and their explicit support would strengthen our push to pass and fund the bill this coming session. By contacting both the Regents and the Governor, we can build support for the legislation while putting our demand directly before the person preparing the budget. Students have waited too long for these protections.
In solidarity,
Marina Marcou-O'Malley and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari
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