David Michael Miller
As children return to school this fall, their conduct will be policed according to the Madison school district’s behavior education plan, now entering its third year. The discipline code has faced heavy scrutiny since its implementation.
In a winter 2015 survey of teachers, only 13 percent agreed that the plan’s “progressive” practices “have had a positive effect on student behavior.” Veteran teacher Stephanie Bush resigned that May from Jefferson Middle School, noting publically that the increase in disciplinary issues she was confronting, in combination with a lack of support, was causing her physical and emotional distress.
More broadly, a disproportionate suspension and expulsion rate for children of color — which the behavior plan hoped to resolve — has persisted.
But in recent interviews with Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham, board members, teachers and parents — almost 15 in all — it is clear that while discord about the plan remains, there are two meaningful points of consensus. One, that the plan’s key aim — to decrease suspensions and expulsions, especially the racial imbalance among them — remains a laudable priority. And two, that the plan will need persistent effort, funding and community support in order to reach its potential and overcome its rocky start.
Suspensions in the district have dropped roughly 50 percent overall since the plan went into effect, but racial disparities endure, especially for black students. To address them, says Cheatham, educators will need to confront their “implicit bias[es]” regarding children of color head on. “We can work on the technical skills [of managing behavior, but] we cannot do that absent of working on our values and beliefs.”
To facilitate deeper conversations about race, poverty, and how they intersect, the district has contracted the National Equity Project, based in Oakland, California, to “build culture, conditions and competencies for excellence and equity” in Madison’s schools. For now, only administrators and other school leaders have participated, but Cheatham expects to widen the program in the coming months and years.
Cheatham is committed to the Equity Project because the behavior plan itself is built on a vision of equity, “a fundamental belief in every child’s capability.” The new discipline code marked a shift from the district’s more punitive “zero tolerance” approach, and is rooted in the simple logic that students cannot learn when they are not in school. According to the district, it is designed to help students learn positive behaviors, “repair harm when negative behavior occurs, and keep our students in classrooms.” It also encourages teachers to learn about their students’ lives outside of school, and to try to identify and address the root causes of misbehavior, ideally in consultation with other staff members and the students’ loved ones.
Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, a local civil rights attorney who helped develop the plan, believes firmly in this approach. “When students act out,” he says, “there is probably something else going on. Maybe something at home. Maybe…[a] health problem. Maybe what the kid needs is better reading instruction.” Until these are resolved, Spitzer-Resnick adds, student misbehavior, to a degree, should be expected. “Keeping students in school is only step one.”
Most teachers embrace this holistic approach — indeed, many pride themselves in getting to know their students and their families. Nonetheless, they recognize that the plan, in order to work, requires extensive training on the nuances of “progressive” behavior, well-defined networks of support within schools, and a sizable increase in staff. For some, it falls short on all three.
Karen Vieth, a teacher at Sherman Middle School and a Madison Teachers Inc. board member, speaks to educators throughout the district; she says the plan has not been implemented consistently. “Some schools are relying on a dean of students, [yet] some don’t even have that position,” she says. “Some have [behavior education assistants], but they are paid as assistants, and...often asked to do what the dean of students used to do. We are giving them lots of responsibility, even though they don’t always have a teacher’s license. They aren’t present at all of our training.”
Cris Carusi, a west-side PTO member and representative on the district’s Guiding Coalition for Equitable Behavior and Discipline, supports the plan, but has met parents with wildly different points of view. “Some parents I’ve spoken to say, ‘I haven’t noticed any negative changes,’ while others say, ‘We’re experiencing problems and we might consider moving if it doesn’t get better.’”
Some school board members agree that securing more funding is paramount. Board member Anna Moffit wrote an open letter in June calling for support for a $250,000 budget amendment to fortify the district’s Intensive Support Team, a small group with expertise in mental health and trauma-informed care that works with students who are having behavioral challenges.
As it stands, this year’s budget includes two more staff members for the team, bringing the total spent on the plan — through direct and indirect channels — to more than $3 million. But that is not enough, say Carusi and others. “We need two more staff members per school,” she says. Moffit herself, noting the plan’s ambitiousness, remains unsure about its funding. “It’s hard to quantify how much is enough. It’s a complete paradigm shift,” she says. “It’s a high priority for the district, and we continue to review it in a more regular way than any other policy.”
In the meantime, though, teachers will need to work with what some see as the unintended consequences of the revised discipline code. “Unsafe behavior, disrespect toward staff members, cussing and inappropriate physical contact with other students has escalated and, at times, makes hallways or classrooms feel chaotic,” says Vieth.
Board president James Howard sees criticisms of a change this fundamental, in the early years of implementation, as natural. “You have to remember where we’re starting from,” he says. “Historically, we’ve just suspended and expelled students…[which] only serves the criminal justice system.
“And we have a few people complaining?” he adds. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”
With a gap between goals and resources in question, this could be an instance of an educational policy asking too much of the school system. Addressing student misbehavior might take a lot more than adding academic support; it could also mean helping students gain access to medical or dental care, secure clean clothes or food and navigate periods of homelessness or other family crises.
Under the plan, the school’s position within the social safety net broadens. “We are asking our schools to overcome poverty,” says Carusi. “We blame schools and teachers for entrenched social and economic problems.”
Despite the challenge, many remain steadfast, citing the behavior plan’s commitment to keeping students in school and on a path to success. Madison must ensure that every student “has the opportunity...to fulfill their goals, and to add their talents to the community,” says Andrew Waity, a fourth-grade teacher at Crestwood Elementary and president of MTI. “[We can’t be] ending a kid’s formal educational opportunities at any age. Children are our most treasured resources.”
Carusi concurs, saying she has “guarded optimism” about its future. “I believe getting the [plan] right is necessary for making public education equitable and successful in our community.”
