Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner Urges Further Action to End School-to-Prison Pipeline (9-30-2019)

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner Urges Further Action to End School-to-Prison Pipeline

Superintendent invited state leaders to work with Los Angeles Unified to decriminalize certain offenses and help provide additional services to students and their families

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 30, 2019) – Superintendent Austin Beutner, in remarks to the Select Committee on Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline led by Assemblymember Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. (D-South Los Angeles), spoke today about the efforts and services Los Angeles Unified is providing to students to end the school-to-prison pipeline.

“Los Angeles Unified was the first school district in the state to end suspensions for willful defiance and use alternative approaches shown to be more effective,” Superintendent Beutner said during the hearing at John C. Fremont High School. “Today, we have wraparound services for counseling, clinical care, restorative justice and improved community engagement to support students at a number of our schools. We need to work together to provide additional resources and services to all students to end the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Superintendent Beutner noted that student suspension rates are at an all-time low. Students missed fewer than 4,000 days of school last year, down from almost 60,000 a decade ago. He also cited the increase in graduation rates at high schools like Fremont, which went from 20 percent to almost 80 percent.

“I was heartened today to hear of the work happening at Fremont, in my district, regarding supportive services for students and the progress that Los Angeles Unified is making,” Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer said. “I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in Sacramento to increase funding for crucial physical and mental health resources for our students. That is why this year I authored AB 258 to use existing Prop 64 funding for school-based health services. We must work with the community, families and educational leaders to invest in our children and break the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Superintendent Beutner outlined a few areas where Los Angeles Unified could work with state lawmakers to end the school-to-prison pipeline, including:

1. Diversion where it makes sense. For example, there are certain drug and alcohol offenses where counseling and other services make more sense that arrests or citations that would remain on a student’s permanent record.
2. Access to Youth Reinvestment Fund. These funds allow schools to invest in additional psychologists, after-school programs, early childhood education centers and other services that provide the supports students need.
3. Adequate funding of K-12 education. A generation ago, California led in student achievement and in funding for the K-12 system. That is no longer the case. New York City invests $29,000 per year in each K-12 student, while Los Angeles Unified is asked to make do with $16,000. 
4. Support for state bills. Los Angeles Unified is supporting AB 413 by Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer, which would replace the term “at-risk” with the term “at-promise” for educational and penal purposes.