For nearly 25 years, I’ve represented children in Santa Barbara County schools — many of them navigating abuse, neglect, or simply struggling to fit into a system that wasn’t built for them. Over time, a troubling pattern has become clear: Our schools offer two very different experiences — one for students who fit in, and another for those who don’t.
For those who fall outside the mold — whether due to racial bias, trauma, neurodivergence, mental health challenges, or unmet needs — there is often a third and dangerous path. Instead of addressing root causes of behavior challenges with a science-backed approach as required by law, schools suspend and expel vulnerable children further to the margins and directly into the School-to-Prison Pipeline. This approach doesn’t improve school safety. It makes things worse. As the American Academy of Pediatrics affirms, there is no record of a school shooting ever being prevented by a suspension or expulsion.
This divide further fuels low expectations, something proven to drag down student performance and foster a culture of exclusion. When schools are truly inclusive, the research is clear: students thrive when they feel safe, supported, and connected. In those environments, they show up more, learn more, and make better choices. Quality education is our most powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty and close equity gaps ; it must be available to all children.