Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, to add a section on restorative justice and conflict resolution, allowing States to award grants for professional development in those areas. This amendment allows more flexibility to States by expanding the types of training that can be paid by title II funds, which would be used to make sure teachers and administrators have sufficient training opportunities. The amendment doesn't add any cost to the bill. Numerous studies have shown that once students enter the juvenile justice system, they are more likely to be arrested as adults. Rather than feeding the school-to-prison pipeline, this amendment offers a means to train teachers and administrators on how to address disciplinary problems by means other than simply suspending or expelling students. When students are away from the classroom because of suspensions or expulsions, they are more likely to get in trouble with law enforcement. Many LEAs have moved away from zero tolerance policies because students were being suspended or expelled from the classroom for relatively minor behavior. An example was a student who used his hand to simulate a gun and was suspended and another situation where a child brought a Nerf-style gun to school and was reported to the police. These types of incidents hurt the students, cost society more money in the long run, and cost us human beings.…”