这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Growing up can be hard in poor neighborhoods where crime is common. That is the situation Marco Antonio Aguilar faced when he started at Garfield High School in Los Angeles, California.
在犯罪很普遍的贫困社区成长并非易事。这就是马可·安东尼奥·阿吉拉尔（Marco Antonio Aguilar）当时开始就读加州洛杉矶市加菲尔德高中时面临的状况。
The boy hated school. He says he had the wrong friends, often missed classes and even got into fights. The school suspended him, barring him from attending classes. He almost was sent to a school for problem students. But Marco Antonio changed his behavior. He says a talk with his mother helped him change. And he praises his teachers.
这个男孩很讨厌学校。他说，他以前交了不好的朋友，经常跷课，甚至打架斗殴。学校让他停学，禁止他上课。他差点被送到问题学生学校。但马可·安东尼奥改变了自己的行为。他说，同妈妈的一番对话使他改变。同时他也赞扬了他的老师。
"With the help of the teachers that I receiving, knowing that they did care about me, the school did really help me,” Aguilar recalls.
他回忆说，“通过老师的帮助，我知道他们都很在乎我，学校也确实对我帮助很大。”
Other students at Garfield High will never be suspended as Marco Antonio was. The Punishment of suspension has been suspended. Jose Huerta, the Garfield High Principal took the action when he first arrived at Garfield more than four years ago.
加菲尔德高中的其他学生不会再像马可·安东尼奥那样被停课。停学的处罚已经被暂停。加菲尔德高中的校长何塞·韦尔塔（Jose Huerta）在四年前一到该校时就采取了行动。
"You don't have to suspend kids. It doesn't get you anywhere. It's very simple, connect with students,” Huerta said.
韦尔塔说：“没必要让学生停学，这一点用都没有。 很简单，要跟学生多沟通。”
When Mr. Huerta came to Garfield, more than half the students were leaving school without finishing their studies. And at the same time, Garfield was suspending nearly 700 students yearly. He said most of the suspensions were for behavioral problems known as "willful defiance.” He said that could include something as minor as chewing gum in class.
当韦尔塔先生来到加菲尔德高中时，半数以上的学生未能正常毕业。与此同时，加菲尔德高中每年有近700名学生被停学。他说，大部分停学学生是因为所谓的“故意挑衅”行为，其中包括小到在课堂上嚼口香糖的一些行为。
Under Mr. Huerta's leadership, students involved in willful defiance first talk to a teacher, then a parent may get involved. finally, group support can be provided if needed. Today, Garfield graduates 85 percent of its students.
在韦尔塔先生的领导下，涉及故意挑衅的学生首先同老师谈话，然后家长可能会参与进来。最后，如果有需要就会提供集体支持。如今，加菲尔德高中学生毕业率达到85%。
"The reason we don't see vandalism or anything is because now there's a connection with our students. I love them. Every time we have an assembly: 'remember guys I love you and we love you" and they all respond with an applause because they don't always get that," Huerta said.
韦尔塔说：“现在，我们很少看到人为破坏或其他违纪行为，因为我们和学生建立了沟通。我爱他们。每次我们聚在一起我都会说，‘孩子们要记住，我爱你，老师们也爱你们’，学生们总会热烈鼓掌，因为他们不常得到这样的鼓励。”
In last year, the Los Angeles Unified School District changed its punishment policy, the whole district banned suspension to punish students for willful defiance.
去年，洛杉矶联合学区更改了其处罚政策，全学区禁止用停学来处理“故意挑衅”的学生。
Superintendent John Deasy came to Los Angeles Unified in 2011. He says he started working on the suspension policy problem then. He said there were far too many suspensions, and he said there were far too many suspensions of minority students.
约翰·迪希（John Deasy）于2011年到洛杉矶联合学区就任总监。他说他随后开始处理停学政策问题。他曾表示，太多学生被停学，太多少数族裔学生被停学。
Dan Losen is with The Civil Rights Project at the University of California at Los Angeles. Mr. Losen said schools that suspend many students do not have better records or rates of graduation. The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education recently called for the change as well.
丹·卢森（Dan Losen）就职于加州大学洛杉矶分校的民权项目。卢森先生表示，让很多学生停课的学校的毕业率并没有更好。美国司法部和教育部最近也呼吁就此做出改变。
And that's the VOA Learning English Education Report. I'm Marsha James.
以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语教育报道的全部内容，我是玛莎·詹姆斯（Marsha James）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)