Analysis: 'Willful Defiance' School Suspensions Have Health Impacts

In the 2012-13 school year, almost 260,000 student suspensions in California public schools — more than 40 percent of the total — were for "willful defiance" of authority. Willful defiance was the single most common reason for suspension and more students were suspended for willful defiance than for drugs, weapons and violence combined.

Mirroring a nationwide shift from "zero tolerance" policies that grew out of the War on Drugs, some large school districts in the state, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have banned willful defiance suspensions. Legislation that would end the practice statewide, AB 420 by California state Assemblymember Roger Dickinson of Sacramento, stalled during last session due to fears of another veto by the governor but will be considered again this year.

http://www.reportingonhealth.org/2014/04/29/health-impacts-willful-defiance-school-suspensions