Dismissed: The Hidden Costs and Cruel Legacy of School Punishment

Millions of public-school children in American public schools are suspended, expelled, subjected to corporal punishment, or forced into alternative schools every year—often without due process or any type of recourse. These traumatic events can leave children and their families devastated, with no clear path toward recovery, yet have no proven benefit for schools, eroding trust between teachers and students, and often leading to more classroom violence and disruption.

Dismissed goes behind the scenes to expose the full extent of this under-reported problem—a major driver of inequity that disproportionately affects Black students and students with disabilities. Veteran education reporter Erin Einhorn explores its root causes, from resistance to school desegregation efforts in the 1960s and 1970s, to the Zero-Tolerance movement that emerged amid fears about school violence at the turn of the twentieth century. Along the way, she draws us into the plight of students kicked out of school who are still reeling years later. Interviews with teachers, administrators, and policy makers highlight the rising tension pitting school safety against the civil rights of children who, for a variety of reasons, have slammed against the behavioral expectations set by their public schools. Einhorn also offers hope, taking readers inside schools adopting new strategies to replace a culture of punishment with targeted support for educators and for children in need.