Sen. Skinner Announces Bill to Eliminate Willful Defiance Suspensions

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today introduced SB 274, which is designed to keep students in school by eliminating the suspension of students for low-level behavior issues known as “willful defiance” in California’s public schools grades TK through 12.

Willful defiance suspensions have disproportionately impacted students of color, LGBTQ students, students who are homeless or in foster care, and those with disabilities. SB 274 would apply to both traditional public schools and charter schools. SB 274 would also bar schools from suspending or expelling students for being tardy or truant.

“SB 274 is based on a simple premise: Students belong in school. Suspending youth for low-level behavior issues leads to significant harm, including learning loss and a higher likelihood that affected students will drop out of school completely,” Sen. Skinner said. “SB 274 puts the needs of students first. Instead of kicking them out of school, we owe it to students to figure out what’s causing them to act out and help them fix it.”

SB 274 builds on Sen. Skinner’s 2019 legislation, SB 419, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It permanently banned willful defiance suspensions in grades TK-5 and prohibited them in grades 6-8 until 2025. SB 274 would eliminate willful defiance suspensions completely in all grades in California public schools.

Willful defiance suspensions cover a highly subjective category of student behavior including a student not removing a hat or hoodie in class. These types of suspensions have historically targeted Black male students the most. According to the 2018 report “Get Out! Black Male Suspensions in California Public Schools,” suspensions for willful defiance represented 21% of all suspensions of Black male students in California middle schools. And in high school, it was 26%. In all, African-American male students in California schools are three times more likely to be suspended for willful defiance than the statewide average.

In recognition of the unnecessary harm caused by willful defiance suspensions, several California school districts have eliminated them entirely, including Oakland and San Francisco unified school districts, during the past decade. And a 2019 report found that after Los Angeles Unified eliminated willful defiance suspensions in grades K-8, suspensions overall plummeted by 75%.

SB 274 is also designed to help reduce dropout rates in California. According to the 2014 Johns Hopkins University study, “Sent Home and Put Off-Track,” “being suspended even once in 9th grade is associated with a two-fold increase in the risk for dropping out.”

SB 274 would also end the practice in California of suspending or expelling students because of tardiness or truancy.

“The punishment for missing school should not be to miss more school,” Sen. Skinner added. “Students, especially those with behavioral issues, need to be in school where teachers and counselors can help them succeed.”

Sen. Nancy Skinner represents the 9th Senate District and is chair of the Senate Budget Committee and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.