Last year, the New York City public schools reported more than 53,000 student suspensions. The most common reason for suspending a student is “defying authority,” a category that included things like refusing to take off a hat, give up a phone or cursing at a staff member.

But after decades in the schools I consider suspension the easy way out. It also doesn’t work. 

At schools across the city, educators are moving away from zero tolerance because we’ve found it doesn’t solve the core problem. The student in trouble doesn’t learn the social skills needed to handle conflict differently.  And when another situation arises, the student usually responds in the same way and they’ll be suspended again, and so the cycle goes.

We also know — because the research on this is crystal clear — that multiple suspensions greatly increase a young person’s chances of dropping out, interacting with police and winding up in jail.

Let me provide just one example of how restorative justice practices work in real life.  An assistant principal responds to disruption in a classroom and scolds a group of girls for being loud.  One of the girls curses at the AP.  She’s removed and taken to the dean’s office for a possible three-day suspension.  But then, the assistant principal and student sit down with the dean and discuss what happened, explain their feelings and why they reacted as they did. They apologize to each other.  They both return to the classroom the next day to let the students and teacher know that they worked through the issue and had strategies for avoiding similar incidents in the future.

Bottom line: the student missed one day of that class instead of three.  The student grew emotionally as did the administrator.  The two built a new bond between them and the class’ consciousness grew. 

The restorative response directly addressed the “why” behind the defiance of authority.  But it took time.  It would have been far easier just to kick the girl out of school for three days.

Listening to another’s feelings, explaining your actions and sharing your feelings, coming up with ways to change behavior, this is hard for adults as well as for children.  But it can lead to significant behavioral changes and a more positive and safer learning environment for all students in the classroom.

Recent studies and reports from school districts across the nation show students feel safer and academic outcomes improve when suspensions drop and alternative approaches such as restorative justice are implemented.  In Oakland, Calif., where the school district has been supporting schools to implement restorative justice practices since 2005, graduation rates have increased by 60 percent, reading levels have increased by 128 percent and chronic absenteeism has declined 24 percent in the schools using these practices.

Restorative practices work best when they are adopted school-wide and embraced by the entire community. That comes with some expense since school personnel need to be trained and behavioral specialists should be in place.  Schools can cover some of the cost in the short term by shifting resources to hiring another counselor and training teachers and principals in restorative approaches. 

To be truly successful, implementing restorative practices, including hiring of full-time restorative justice coordinators in schools, should be a funding priority for school districts, county agencies and states.

Unlike zero tolerance, none of this is easy.  Ultimately, it’s a choice between paying now in time, energy and money in order to eventually improve everyone in the school’s daily life, or paying much more later when some students drop out of school and enter the juvenile justice system after being repeatedly suspended.