Restorative Justice is Educational Justice: Reimagining How Massachusetts Schools Respond to Harm
Every day, schools make decisions about how to respond when challenges arise- when a student disrupts class, misses school, or experiences interpersonal conflict. These moments are often treated as routine disciplinary matters and assumed to be resolved through removal or other surface-level responses, despite being more complex and rooted in underlying needs or harms.
Too often, responses fail to meaningfully address root causes and can perpetuate the original harm. How schools respond in these moments shapes a student’s relationship with education and determines whether schools function as a source of support or as another system of exclusion.
Massachusetts has taken steps to limit exclusionary discipline, acknowledging that removing students from the classroom undermines their ability to learn. State policy reinforces this by requiring schools to make meaningful efforts to implement alternatives before resorting to removal. Yet policy has not fully shifted practice. Incidents of conflict or disruption are often still treated as routine disciplinary issues and managed through removal or other limited responses, rather than as complex situations requiring meaningful intervention. For many young people, discipline operates less as a moment of accountability and more as a point of disconnection. Even when alternatives exist, exclusion often remains the default–especially in schools that lack the structure, capacity, or resources to implement different responses.
When meaningfully implemented, restorative justice offers another way forward. At its core, restorative justice shifts the focus of discipline from punishment to repair. Rather than asking only what rule was broken and what consequence should follow, restorative approaches ask what harm occurred, who was affected, and what is needed to rebuild trust. This approach recognizes that accountability does not have to come through removal. It can happen through dialogue, relationship-building, and meaningful opportunities for students to take responsibility and remain part of their school community.
The principles and purpose of restorative justice have been widely recognized by schools across Massachusetts, many of which have begun implementing restorative practices to improve school climate, strengthen relationships, and reduce suspensions. These efforts reflect meaningful progress. At the same time, implementation varies widely and is often constrained by limited resources and capacity, which can position these practices as supplementary rather than foundational.
The consequences of relying on punitive responses rather than meaningful intervention extend beyond the classroom. When young people’s needs are not addressed early through supportive, community-based approaches, challenges can escalate and lead to deeper system involvement. Data from the Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Board’s 2025 Annual Report shows that nearly two-thirds of juvenile cases are ultimately dismissed, raising questions about whether formal system involvement was the most appropriate response in many instances. Despite this, Massachusetts has continued to see increased use of youth arrests and pretrial conditions (Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Board, 2026). Together, these trends highlight the need to examine how schools, communities, and systems can intervene earlier to support young people before challenges escalate into justice system involvement.
Schools are a key point of entry into this broader landscape. When discipline relies on exclusion or disengagement, it can contribute to patterns of disconnection that extend beyond the classroom. What begins as a school-based response can quickly become something larger: another system a young person must navigate.
Restorative justice interrupts that pattern by shifting how schools respond in the first place. When it is used early and consistently, it keeps students connected, creates space to address underlying challenges, and reduces the need for more formal interventions later on. In this way, restorative justice is not simply an alternative to discipline. It is part of what makes meaningful access to education possible.
Massachusetts Appleseed’s work on educational justice reflects this broader understanding. In its report, “I Just Want to Learn”: Girls of Color and the School-to-Prison Pipeline in Massachusetts, Appleseed centered the voices of girls of color, who emphasized the importance of meaningful restorative justice practices in schools to create more supportive and equitable learning environments. Whether addressing school discipline, access to information, or pathways into the legal system, the focus remains the same: systems should support young people, not push them further into crisis.
Reimagining discipline means treating restorative justice not as an add-on but as a foundation. When it is positioned upstream, before exclusion occurs, it becomes more than a response to harm. It becomes a necessary condition of educational justice.
