According to a recent Civil Rights Data Collection survey, black preschool students are 3.6 times more likely to receive suspension as white students.
While suspension rates are up across all preschool students, this new survey showed how serious preschool suspension rates are.
Lana Sabir, the owner of Tomorrow’s Star Educational Center in Southfield explained that their facility is full because preschoolers are getting kicked out of child care centers.
“…It’s hard for parents to work and try to survive without having someone watching their children…that’s the problem especially in this area,” Sabir said.
While forming a multinational school identity can help students understand the globalization of the 21st century, about 20% of the students enrolled in preschool are black girls and more than half have been suspended.
Kaitlin Ferrick with the Michigan Department of Education acknowledges the concern and says the department is working on a system that would show how it impacts the date. This past year, the department put out a guide to help reduce preschool suspensions.
While there is no state or federal law regarding preschool suspension, Arizona State Representative Reginald Bolding is hoping to change that.
Bolding introduced House Bill 2018, which would prevent schools from suspending or expelling students in preschool through second grade. Exceptions would include if the student presents an imminent danger to staff or other students.
Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Louisiana all introduced similar bills last year.
Bolding explained that because preschool is not mandatory, administrators have more discretion when it comes to suspension or expulsion. Generally, there won’t even be a formal expulsion. Parents are often just told the preschool may not be right for their child.
The bill does not come with a request for funding to cover services that should be provided to troubled students who act up in school. Instead, Bolding plans to have school districts look at the policies they currently have in place while Democrats in the House and Senate move forward with pushing more money towards early childhood education.
Bolding said, “We can’t have another generation of kids pushed out of our schools just because the dollars aren’t in the bank right now.”