NJ Senator Cory Booker Co-Sponsoring Bill That Aims To Improve Disciplinary Procedures In Schools
By David Madden
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is co-sponsoring a bill that aims to improve disciplinary procedures in schools across America.
It's called the Supportive School Climate Act. Booker is worried that kids, particularly minorities and the poor, are subjected to zero tolerance behavior policies that put them into the criminal justice system, in many cases, way too soon.
"I'm all for proportional discipline, but when we can see that there's proven methods to discipline children that don't involve putting them on a pathway to prison, then we should be doing those."
The plan would encourage districts to find alternatives, with the help of federal funding, that will allow kids to form better relationships with adults in school.
The goal, to apply discipline equally and, when the law is brought in, provide meaningful opportunities for troublesome students to turn their lives around.
