The president of the city’s principals unions blasted the state of school discipline on Wednesday in a letter to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.
“In many schools, misconduct is on the rise, leading some students to believe that there are little or no consequences for disruptive, openly defiant, threatening or even violent behavior,” wrote Mark Cannizzaro (right), head of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA).
Despite the city Department of Education’s claims that classrooms are calm in spite of massive drops in suspensions and arrests, the letter says a CSA survey of 2,300 New York school leaders found that only 31 percent were satisfied “with the direction of the DOE with respect to student/staff safety.”
And just 21 percent were satisfied with disciplinary-code changes, while 30 percent were pleased by the DOE’s “direction with respect to school climate and culture.”
Cannizzaro said principals still support the DOE’s “restorative justice” approach to misbehavior, which opts for alternative de-escalation techniques over “zero tolerance” and heavy suspensions.
But the letter calls for school administrators to get more autonomy in dealing with classroom trouble.
Principals should also have their “discretion over issues of school climate and safety restored so that they can again make decisions in the best interest of all students,” it reads.
Cannizzaro told The Post on Thursday that principals are handcuffed by DOE rules.
As an example, he said a principal complained to him that a student spat in an assistant principal’s face and that a request for a suspension from a central district office was denied because it didn’t qualify.
“When things go off the rails and something needs to be done to keep the climate conducive to learning, we should be able to make that call,” he said.
DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said, “We’ll keep working closely with schools to give them the tools they need to effectively manage and de-escalate conflict, and are in ongoing conversations with the CSA about important issues impacting principals.”