MORE KIDS SUSPENDED

SUSPENSIONS in city schools jumped a whopping 21% in the second half of 2017, compared to the same time period the previous year. City schools issued 14,502 suspensions from July to December 2017, up from 12,008 suspensions the year before, figures released Friday by the city Education Department show. Students are suspended for such infractions as attacking staff or other students, destroying school property or bringing weapons to campus. The rise in suspensions for 2017 followed a decline posted in 2016, after Mayor de Blasio enacted so-called “restorative justice” school reforms designed to reduce suspensions. The increase echoes a rise in criminal activity in the schools that was reported by the NYPD earlier this year.