Advice on my 12yo being disruptive in class, but the school does not seem willing to try to help.

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible, but my 12yo son is in the 6th grade and has always been disruptive in class. We are aware of it, and we try really hard to be involved with the school to try to remedy the issue. However, there is little to no communication from the school. We thought things were improved this year because we heard nothing from the school to tell us otherwise. Even during the teacher conference, the teacher just says he's doing well. Turns out she is the most passive person I have ever met.Yesterday my wife gets a call from the principle because a teacher claims to have seen him choking another student. The principle was borderline yelling at my wife, saying that Ben has been in trouble a lot at school. When asked why we heard nothing of it, she said that the teacher writes behavior on a weekly sheet that the student is supposed to give to their parents. We, of course, have not seen these because the kids are not required to get a signature or any sort of verification that they showed us. What kid would self report their behavior if it's not good?When we talked to my son, he said that they weren't choking, but playing a game where they touch each other on the chin to "claim them." He's told me about this game in the past and I talked to him about it. It's one of those stupid harmless games kids play, not an actual act of dominance or anything like that. Both my son and the other kid have been accused of choking each other and suspended, while both insist that they were playing around. I know my kid is far from well behaved, and I know he is not the most honest kid. We are working on those things, but in this situation I believe him.My wife called the principle back after talking to me to request a meeting. The principle was more rational this time, but says they don't have records of the times Ben has been in trouble, and she can't make time to meet us for two weeks unless it's before 8am, which we simply can't make happen because of schedules with work and our toddler.We have been through similar situations in the past where my son's behavior has been less than admirable, and when trying to work with the school it became clear that they would rather just get him out of the way than try to help him be a better person. They were unwilling to work with us (even at the district level), but instead just issue out punishments.So my question is two-fold. Is there anything we can do to try to get the school involved in helping the kid be better? Otherwise, can anyone recommend an education tract that actually cares about the individual and would help him with his behavior instead of just pushing him aside, which I worry will make him want to give up? via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2pzUbys