School suspension costing tax payers billions?

Huffington Post recently published an article highlighting the large amount of money that school suspension is costing tax payers. I personally found this article intriguing as I work in the public school system. Specifically, I am a teacher’s aide, working in SPED as well as behavior classrooms.  The claim is that suspending a child from school greatly increases the likelihood that they will drop out. This in turn raises the risks of them becoming involved in the criminal justice system and later receiving government aide, which cost taxpayers. The exact amount referenced in the article, $35 billion dollars! While I’m not entirely confident in these numbers, I can agree with the idea that new practices should be studied and implemented if found successful. Personally working at a campus that is classified as high poverty, I see a large population of kids with behavior. I’m not claiming that these two things correlate, but it is what it is. Our policy is NOT to suspend the kids. And I absolutely do not believe doing so would be beneficial for the students or staff. It’s important for us to find the source of the behavior and to support the student in any way possible to change it. Once that trust is built, the behavior decreases, the child’s attitude toward school and staff improves and academic progress follows. So yes, keep these kids in school. It’s a win for the students’ future and for all those concerned tax payers. I believe everyone should show interest and become involved when it is concerning our education system. We need the support of our community in order to enact positive changes towards the future of our youth.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/school-suspension-money_us_574efcbae4b0ed593f12dd4b