The school district was forced into this public relations effort by newspapers that use suspension rates in school comparison projects. Legislators, too, have been clamoring to see suspension and expulsion rates in individual school report cards. Ask any school teacher what can happen when a school superintendent says expulsion and suspensions rates are too high. Too often, the principals refuse to back classroom teachers who oust unruly children from their classes. They send the smirking thugs trotting back to the scene of their crimes.
Suspensions drop, sure enough.
But discipline and education suffer. You may be sure that the students in districts where behavior problems are kept in regular classes at all costs soon learn who's running the asylum.