School security officers outnumber counselors in four out of the 10 largest public school districts in the country — including three of the top five — according to data obtained by The 74. New York City, Chicago, Miami-Dade County and Houston schools all employ more security staff than counselors. New York City, Chicago and Miami-Dade...

LA Unified posted a 92 percent decrease in the number of days lost to suspensions as a result of its Restorative Justice program and the district’s new approach to discipline. In the 2007-2008 school year, a total of 74,765 days were lost to suspensions, but that number plummeted to 6,221 in the 2014-2015 school year, according to a...

LA Unified’s efforts at reforming its school discipline policies were applauded at a White House national conference yesterday attended by school administrators from around the country. The day-long “Rethink Discipline” conference held up LA Unified as one of five districts that has seen positive results by moving away from “zero tolerance” disciplinary rules. LA Unified board...

A small coalition of community organizations rallied at LA Unified headquarters today, urging district leaders to invest in more restorative justice programs and alternative schools. The Dignity in Schools Campaign joined with leaders of the parent group, CADRE, Public Counsel and the teachers union, UTLA, to celebrate, what they called “a minor victory.” Beginning next...

By Araceli Morfín and Raúl Ruíz Tomorrow, the LAUSD school board will ratify the 2015-16 budget, along with the district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), increasing an investment in restorative justice to $7.2 million from $4.2 million. This increase is timely, as the work of restorative justice has been immensely impactful in our LAUSD schools at...

The LA Unified School Board’s Successful School Climate Committee got an update on the district’s diversion program, not only with statistics but also with a student who said it had changed his life and his mother, who said she “thanks God” for it. The program, which has been in effect since the beginning of the...

Close to 300 LA Unified students who would have ended up in the criminal justice system for minor infractions in years past have been successfully diverted from it this school year, Los Angeles School Police Chief Steven Zipperman told a school board committee yesterday. The effort toward a reduction in student citations and arrests, part of...