Education must-read Chalkbeat Colorado’s recent research into how discipline is meted out in the state’s schools suggests a pattern of unequal schoolhouse justice that may even reach out into Colorado’s rural climes. And it could be of consequence to a bill on school discipline that is now idling — on life support? — in a Senate committee. As Chalkbeat’s Ann Schimke writes this week:

…a Chalkbeat examination of state data on out-of-school suspensions of students in kindergarten to second grade shows that a key concern of bill advocates — that such methods disproportionately impact boys, especially boys of color — bears out in the state’s rural districts, too.

Some background from Schimke:

Supporters of efforts to curb early childhood suspension and expulsion say removing kids from school at a young age can have devastating lifelong consequences — increasing the likelihood of future suspensions and the risk that kids will eventually drop out and end up incarcerated.

House Bill 1210 would curb out-of-school suspensions and expulsions for students in kindergarten through second grade, as well as preschoolers in state-funded programs. It would permit out-of-school suspensions only if a child endangers others on school grounds, represents a serious safety threat or if school staff have exhausted all other options.

A lot of effort went into building a coalition behind the bill, including outreach to the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance, Schimke reports. After the bill won approval in the state House, the alliance came out against it. That, Schimke writes, sent the bill, now in the Senate, to the upper chamber’s State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, aka the kill committee. It remains there in limbo on the committee calendar. Some would say it’s on death row.

Republicans run the Senate, of course, and represent much of rural Colorado. You can bet key GOP senators heard from the many farm-and-ranch-community school boards in their districts, which no doubt urged them to make sure a measure meant for urban school districts didn’t interfere with rural education policy.

That’s was the rural alliance’s point person essentially told Schimke:

Michelle Murphy, executive director of the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance said, “It’s not a rural issue … We are not over-expelling or over-suspending our kids.”

…Murphy said there’s been no outcry in Colorado’s rural districts from parents or community groups about discipline in the early grades.

Yet, the reality, the Chalkbeat research shows, is in fact a mixed bag for the rural districts, with some experiencing precisely the kinds of expulsion rates the HB 1210 was meant to address.

It all makes for an interesting intersection of what’s best for our kids and what works in the legislature. It also reflects the perennial culture clash between rural and urban Colorado.

Read Schimke’s full report; here’s the link again.