Every child deserves an education—a seat in the classroom. But discrimination against girls of color and other traditionally marginalized students has led schools to disproportionately exclude them from the classroom, through harsh discipline, such as suspension, expulsion, or even arrest. The Ending Punitive, Unfair, School-based Harm that Is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma (PUSHOUT) Act, or the Ending PUSHOUT Act, (H.R. 2248), would help end school pushout for these students.
For years, educators and school administrators have disciplined students of color, especially girls of color, more harshly than white students. Black and Native American girls face some of the largest barriers to educational opportunities due to racism and sexism baked into school codes of conduct, discipline policies and practices, and school dress codes, especially when these rules result in students being removed from their classrooms. School policies and practices that remove students from their usual classroom setting as a form of punishment are called exclusionary discipline.