Despite the passage of legislation banning willful defiance suspensions, research from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools found that racial disparities in suspension rates have remained mostly unchanged.
Senate Bill 274 (2023) expanded bans on suspensions for “willful defiance” under Assembly Bill 420 and SB 419 to cover children across all grade levels. Studies have long shown that willful defiance suspensions, which increase the likelihood of students dropping out of school, disproportionately impact Black and Indigenous youth in California. This catch-all category covers offenses for everything from sleeping in class to talking back to teachers.
Analysis of statewide suspension data from 2017–18 through 2023–24 shows that despite the ban, Black/African American students are being suspended at nearly triple the rate of the statewide average of 4.3 percent while the rate for American Indian/Alaska Native students is quadruple the average.
Researchers found that data across the six years mostly demonstrated a slight shift but no real narrowing of racial disparity gaps, despite a dramatic decrease at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the need to address the reasons for student behavior rather than simply pushing students out.
“Suspensions harm students by removing them from the learning environment without addressing root causes of their behavior,” according to the report. “Restorative practices are highly relational, centering harm repair through dialogue, shared accountability, co-creative decision-making, and community building. Adopting school- and district-wide restorative practices and policies is essential for maximizing impact.”
According to the report, just 328 elementary schools statewide (out of 3,276 total) accounted for 49 percent of all elementary suspensions. Similarly, 10 percent of middle schools accounted for 35 percent of all suspensions and 10 percent of high schools accounting for 40 percent of all suspensions at those grade levels.
“This suggests that while all schools might contribute to statewide suspension rates, some might be over-reliant on exclusionary student discipline practices,” researchers wrote.
Additionally, racial disparities were present regardless of the demographic makeup of a school, with Black/African American and American Indian/Alaska Native students consistently among those with the highest suspension rates.
Recommendations
The report cites the California Race, Education, and Community Healing (REACH) Network at UCLA — a statewide initiative bringing schools, districts, researchers and community partners together to share data, best practices and strategies for leading efforts to reduce discipline disparities and enhance student outcomes — as a key support for local educational agencies looking to reduce disproportionate discipline in their schools through different policies and practices.
For a look at how LEAs working with the REACH network are improving exclusionary discipline rates, see the “Alternatives to Suspension” article in CSBA’s winter 2025 California Schools magazine.
Additionally, CSBA’s Safe Schools Toolkit, particularly the Supporting a Positive School Climate section, and the California Department of Education are also helpful resources for LEAs seeking to help teachers and school administrators balance behavioral management in the classroom and implementation of restorative, equity-driven approaches that keep students in school while strengthening relationships and repairing harm.
Researchers concluded that LEAs can prioritize three main buckets of policy efforts to address these issues:
Committing to data-driven decision-making through regular analysis of discipline data and patterns; tracking proactive metrics like students’ sense of belonging; and performing an ongoing cycle of inquiry and continuous improvement.
Leading a culture of empathy and support via broad implementation of restorative practices; social-emotional learning integration; cultural responsiveness training; and a model mindset shift from the top.
Integrating family and community engagement by implementing family engagement initiatives and community resource partnerships; and building in family and community input into decision-making.
