Written by Rooster for True Grit.
It seems that California lawmakers have outdone themselves this time. They are considering a proposal that would prevent schools from expelling or suspending students caught attending class drunk or high or possessing drugs and alcohol. Assembly Bill 599, written by Democrat Assemblyman Chris Ward, is now on its way to the Appropriations Committee. Can you believe it?
According to the Daily Wire, the bill claims that allowing students to attend school while high or drunk will reduce drug use in the future. How absurd! I’m sure that by allowing students to attend school under the influence, it will have the opposite effect. What kind of logic is that? Ward argues that by not punishing these students, the state’s educational institutions will no longer feed kids into the school-to-prison pipeline. I beg to differ.
Ward claims that his bill would be a “more humane” approach. More humane? How is allowing students to attend school while drunk or high a more humane approach? Ward doesn’t even specify what sort of measures would be taken. It seems like they’re just making things up as they go along.
The bill also requires the California Department of Education and local-level education agencies to create a new model for addressing student’s illicit possession of drugs or alcohol on campus. Ward adjusted the language of the bill to make it more gender-neutral. How thoughtful of him.
Nora Lynn from Children Now, a public policy organization that influenced the bill, claimed that the current zero-tolerance policy has imbalanced effects on the student population. She points out the disproportionate impacts on youth of color and young boys of color. I’m not sure what she’s getting at here, but it seems like another excuse to push the bill through.
Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, who chairs the Education Committee, calls Lynn out on her argument, saying that she did not provide any measurement criteria. “I would appreciate that our policy decisions be data-driven rather than based on impressions or anecdotes,” said Muratsuchi. Finally, some common sense!
Several activist organizations joined Ward and Children Now in writing this bill, including The California Alliance of Child and Family Services, California Youth Empowerment Network, and California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. It’s no surprise that these organizations are involved. They seem to be pushing their own agenda rather than considering the welfare of the students.
Allowing students to attend school drunk or high is a recipe for disaster. It sends a message that drug use is acceptable and trivializes the importance of education. California lawmakers need to reconsider this proposal before it’s too late.
