"Charter school executive" = he knows absolutely nothing about the realities of dealing with truly violent and disruptive students. I'm sickened by this article. Look at Baltimore's code of conduct which slavishly follows the recommenations he touts here, for they are not new. It allows students to gamble, attack each other and staff with consequences like: a stiff talking to, a phone call home and the detention!!!
Sure, this keeps more students in school, but it causes assaults, strong arm robberies, attacks on teachers, loss of thousands of hours of instruction and,more than anything, it lowers the level of instruction for the students that follow the rules.
If we want to teach students that there are consequences for their actions and that they are responsible for themselves, then there needs to be stiff punishments because otherwise we are teaching students that they are able to get away with these aberrations. That is the kind of soft racism that leads to students becoming criminals.
For shame, this author would condemn our young minds to a violent and disruptive learning space because there are a higher level of one type of student having issues with dealing with discipline, rigor, regiment and rules. Life and society are filled with these.
As for "restorative justice," circles and making a victim face their attacker. These are not restorative for the victim but to an attacker. Where is the science that suggests that this is even correlatively related to lower levels of infractions, suspensions or violence in schools. These allow a thin veneer to be fastened over rough hewed and ugly compromises.
To the author, I say Go teach for longer than two years required in Teachnfor America: those worksheet factories of privilege. Deal with the grinding slog of yelling, physical violence, riots, fights and insanity and come back and write this article. He is a poseur and a rhetorician, who is not really interested in improving outcomes for black students.