NEW YORK (AP) - The Education Department says suspensions at New York City public schools dropped last year amid a push to change school discipline practices.
The department says suspensions fell by more than 30 percent during the last six months of 2015, compared with the same period a year earlier.
City officials are crediting the drop to efforts by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration to modify school discipline. The city has provided training for alternatives to traditional punishments.
The changes came after complaints by advocates that suspensions deprived students of instruction, increased drop-out rates and hurt poor minorities and special education students.
Schools saw an 81 percent drop over the last six months of 2015 in suspensions for insubordination. Critics say those suspensions have historically been subject to inconsistent application by administrators.
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