More support needed for CPS discipline code to work
To read this article on the Chicago Sun-times website, click here.
Chicago is well on its way to a more enlightened way of dealing with misbehaving and troubled kids.
Step One: Mostly done.
The Chicago Board of Education will vote Wednesday on a significantly revised student discipline code, building on changes made in 2012. The new code firmly moves Chicago away from zero tolerance — suspensions will become a punishment of last resort — and toward changing student behavior, not just punishing it. This should be an easy yes vote.
Step Two (the harder of the two): A work in progress.
After years of living under a discipline code focused on punishment, school staff can’t simply flip a switch and change school cultures and student behaviors. That vitally important work takes training, commitment and money.