More than 100 people crowded onto the steps of City Hall earlier this week to protest what they said were skyrocketing suspension rates and urge the city to change the way they discipline students.
“They are using punitive and harsh measures for something as simple as chewing gum, writing on a desk or walking to the bathroom without a pass,” said Roksana Mun, a campaign organizer at the Jackson Heights-based Desis Rising Up and Moving, or DRUM. “It’s literally for these small, petty, minor things that students are getting suspended.