(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) California lawmakers are considering a proposal which, if passed, would prohibit the expulsion or suspension of students attending class drunk or high, or who possess drugs and alcohol.
Assembly Bill 599, written by Democrat Assemblyman Chris Ward, received approval without opposition and is now on its way to the Appropriations Committee.
According to the Daily Wire, the bill argues that the “high feelings of school connectedness can decrease drug use,” or, that students who stay in school will be less likely to do drugs in the future.
Ward also argued that by not punishing students who get high or drunk at school, the state’s educational institutions will no longer feed kids into the school-to-prison pipeline.
Ward concluded by saying that his bill would be a “more humane” approach, though he did not specify what sort of measures would be taken.
The bill also requires the California Department of Education, along with local-level education agencies, to create a new model when addressing student’s illicit possession of drugs or alcohol on campus.
Ward noted that he adjusted the language of the bill to make it more gender-neutral.
Nora Lynn, the associate director of Children Now—a public policy organization that influenced the bill—claimed that the current zero-tolerance policy has imbalanced effects on the student population.
“We would just point to the very strongly disproportionate impacts on youth of color, young boys of color, and we feel like that far outweighs whatever deterrence there may be,” said Lynn.
Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, who chairs the Education Committee, rebutted Lynn’s argument by saying she did not provide any measurement criteria.
“I would appreciate that our policy decisions be data-driven rather than based on impressions or anecdotes,” said Muratsuchi.
Several other activist organizations joined Ward and Children Now in the writing of this bill: The California Alliance of Child and Family Services, California Youth Empowerment Network, and California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry all had a hand in the language of the document.
