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The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) is a system of policies that can push students out of school and into the criminal justice system. The STPP can operate directly or indirectly, and it disproportionately affects youth of color, LGBTQ youth, and youth with disabilities or trauma.

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The School to Prison Pipeline (STPP) is a nationwide system of local, state, and federal education and public safety policies that pushes students out of schoolÂ and into the criminal justice system. The system disproportionately targets youth of color and youth with disabilities.

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The school-to-prison pipeline refers to practices and policies that disproportionately place students of color into the criminal justice system. The biased application of harsh disciplinary measures and overuse of referrals to law enforcement contribute to the problem, setting up vulnerable students for failure and ignoring the underlying causes.

How can educators end the school-to-prison pipeline? The first step is considering an alternative approach to school discipline.

To learn more, check out the infographic created by American University's Doctorate in Education Policy & Leadership program.

The Dangers of Zero-Tolerance Policies

Zero-tolerance policies stem from the war on drugs and strict crime laws that greatly increased mass incarceration in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. The expansion of such policies to address crime among juveniles and school environments led to what education and social justice advocates now call the school-to-prison pipeline.

The Origin of Zero-Tolerance Policies

Zero-tolerance policies in public schools originated with the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act (GFSA). Under this act, the punishment for bringing a firearm to school is suspension for at least one academic year. The GFSA's introduction led to the expansion of zero-tolerance policies to encompass other offenses and to increased reporting to law enforcement. Since 1994, school districts have also adopted strict policies that mandate harsh punishment for less serious offenses in an effort to discourage more serious crimes.

The Effects of Zero-Tolerance Policies

Zero-tolerance policies have dramatically increased the number of students who are suspended or expelled. This has led to serious ramifications. For example, students who miss at least 15 days of school in even a single year are seven times more likely to drop out of high school. Students who fail to complete their education are more likely to experience negative outcomes such as poverty, poor health, or time in the criminal justice system. Furthermore, it's been determined that disparities in school discipline contribute to disparities in the learning opportunities. It's also been determined that Black students miss almost five times as many days of instruction as a result of out-of-school suspensions compared with white students.

Along the way, schools have hired more school resource officers (SROs), law enforcement professionals who are responsible for student safety and crime prevention. The increased placement of SROs has led to increases in the number of students arrested, as well as the number of referrals to law enforcement and juvenile courts.

Who Is Most Affected by The School-to-Prison Pipeline?

The statistics paint a bleak picture: students from marginalized groups are the greatest risk of being drawn into the school-to-prison pipeline.

Risk Factors for Juvenile Involvement in the Justice System

There are different risk factor tiers concerning juvenile involvement in the justice system. Individual risk factors include antisocial behavior, hyperactivity, and substance misuse. Family risk factors include abusive parents, low socioeconomic status, and teen parenthood. Peer risk factors include bullying from peers, gang membership, and weak social ties. School and community factors include impoverished or disorganized communities and poor academic performance.

How Many Students Receive Out-of-School Suspensions?

2.7 million K-12 students received one or more out-of-school suspensions during the 2015-16 school year. This number revealed a disproportionate impact on Black or African American students. While this demographic made up just 8% of both the male and female students, they represented 25% and 14% of their respective gender's out-of-school suspensions.

In comparison, white students received out-of-school suspensions at a rate lower than their enrollment. While 25% of the male student population and 24% of the female student population were white, they only represented 24% and 8% of out-of-school suspensions, respectively.

Among Hispanic or Latinx students, male students received far more out-of-school suspension than female students. Hispanc and Latinx males and females both made up 13% of the student population, but they represented 15% and 6% of out-of-school suspensions, respectively.

How Many Students Do Law Enforcement Referrals and Arrests Impact?

290,600 students were referred to law enforcement agencies or arrested during the 2015-16 school year. Only 15% of students were Black or African American, but these students represented 31% of law enforcement referrals and arrests. 49% of students were white, but these students represented just 36% of law enforcement referrals or arrests. 26% of students were Hispanic or Latinx, and these students represented 24% of law enforcement referrals or arrests.

Why Students of Color are Disproportionately Affected

Students from marginalized communities are more likely to end up in the school-to-prison pipeline because of systemic racism. Also known as structural or institutional racism, systemic racism refers to systems and policies that create and/or maintain racial inequalities.

Disciplinary actions that result in court referrals, suspensions, or expulsions - all of which increase the likelihood of dropping out and entering the juvenile justice system - are disproportionately applied to students of color. Additionally, Black students are more likely than their white peers to be suspended, expelled, or arrested for the same kind of conduct. Furthermore, Black students are suspended or expelled at a rate almost 3.5 times greater than that of white students.

How Students of Color Are Affected

The school-to-prison pipeline causes a disproportionate number of students of color to drop out of school and enter the criminal justice system, which can have life-changing negative effects.

For instance, students who fail to complete high school are more likely to be imprisoned. This gives them a criminal record, which can then make it more difficult to attain housing, build credit, gain employment, and qualify for public assistance. Additionally, students who are convicted of a felony offense face even greater obstacles in finding employment, and they may lose their voting rights and eligibility for financial aid. Students who do not complete high school also go on to earn lower wages compared to peers that graduate.

The Healing Power of Restorative Justice

To help eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline, educators should consider replacing zero-tolerance policies with restorative justice.

A New Approach: Restorative Justice

Restorative justice seeks to understand the underlying causes of misbehavior, repair damage, and build a sense of community. This process breaks down into several restorative practices. The first practice is to address the disciplinary practice disparities by reviewing and monitoring policies and practices to ensure that disciplinary measures are not applied unfairly. The second practice is to create a supportive school environment that focuses on agreement and mediation instead of punishment. The third practice is to utilize professional training and development to develop cultural competence, expand communication skills, address cultural bias, and learn about educational trauma.

A Better Approach

Restorative justice is an alternative approach to school discipline that has the potential to uncover the underlying causes of misbehavior and improve student outcomes. By investing in students' health and well-being, educators are investing in this country's future.

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Who is Most Affected by the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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Explore the racial discrepancies fortified within the school-to-prison pipeline, and learn how restorative justice aims to undo the damage of this divide.

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Years ago, James Duran didn't think too much before suspending students who came to his office with stories of swearing at teachers, disrupting class, or even arriving late to school.

"I can tell you that I was suspending upwards of 300 kids a year. And I'll tell you, I'll admit it, that's just what we did in schools. We suspended kids," says Duran, the veteran dean of discipline at Skinner Middle School in Denver. "Looking back, it was a big cop-out. Basically it just gave kids permission not to be in school."

Duran wasn't the only one pushing kids out. In 2010, more than 3 million students were suspended from school, or double the level of suspensions in the 1970s. Meanwhile, more than a quarter-million were "referred" to police officers for misdemeanor tickets, very often for offenses that once would have elicited a stern talking-to.

The practice of pushing kids out of school and toward the juvenile and criminal justice systems has become known as the "school-to-prison pipeline," and in 2013, NEA members and leaders made a formal commitment to close it. Fueled by zero tolerance policies and the presence of police officers in schools, and made worse by school funding cuts that overburden counselors and high-stakes tests that stress teachers, these excessive practices have resulted in the suspensions, expulsions, and arrests of tens of millions of public school students, especially students of color and those with disabilities or who identify as LGBT.

For those students, it isn't just an interruption in learning, although it's definitely that, too-if they aren't in school, they aren't learning. A suspension can be life altering. It is the number-one predictor- more than poverty-of whether children will drop out of school, and walk down a road that includes greater likelihood of unemployment, reliance on social-welfare programs, and imprisonment.

"My eyes were opened by a young man I met who had spent 21 days in a juvenile detention center, basically for talking back in class," says NEA Executive Committee member Kevin Gilbert. "As educators, we need to step back and look at our discipline structures. We need to make sure they're going to help, not hurt students."

Consider the Maryland 7-year-old who was suspended in 2013 for chewing his Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. Or the Michigan senior expelled in October for forgetting the pocketknife in her purse. Or the seven North Carolina teenagers who were arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" in 2013 for an end-of-the-year water balloon fight.

I was suspending upwards of 300 kids a year. And I'll tell you, I'll admit it, that's just what we did in schools. We suspended kids. Looking back, it was a big cop-out.

Then there's Patricia Cardenas-a Denver high school junior. She didn't realize a warrant for her arrest had been issued when she was in middle school until she tried to get a driver's license last year.

"I had a really difficult time in middle school. My parents were getting divorced, and we were moving, and I was just a train wreck. One day this girl showed up from high school, and she came after me," says Cardenas. "When the cops came, this one teacher kept saying, 'Give her a ticket, give her a ticket!' I didn't think he had given me one, but I guess he did.

"Looking back, I know that teacher didn't like me, and honestly I think she was pushing me out," says Cardenas, who is active with Padres Unidos, a Denver community group that fights the school-to-prison pipeline. "Today my first priority is school and I've gotten it together. But it didn't used to be like that, and nobody asked me what was going on."

Let's Talk about Racism

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, which last year ordered school districts to respond to student misbehavior in "fair, non-discriminatory, and effective" ways, Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than White students, while Black and Latino students account for 70 percent of police referrals.

Also, students with disabilities are twice as likely to be suspended than their non-disabled peers, and LGBT students are 1.4 times more likely to face suspension than their straight peers. In Ohio, a Black child with an emotional disability was 17 times more likely to be suspended than a White, non-disabled peer. Combine these "risk factors," and you're talking about a child who might as well stay home.

The bias starts early. Black children represent 18 percent of pre-school students, but account for 48 percent of pre-school suspensions. Yes, we're talking about 4-year-olds.

"It's crystal clear that Black students, especially boys, get it worse," said Jacqui Greadington, chair of the NEA Black Caucus. "Studies have shown that a Black child, especially a male, is seen to be a bigger threat just because they are. They are. They exist."

In fact, according to research, Black students do not "act out" in class more frequently than their White peers. But Black students are more likely to be sent to the principal's office for subjective offenses, like "disrupting class," and they're more likely to be sent there by White teachers, according to Kirwan Institute research on implicit bias. (White students, on the other hand, are more likely to be suspended for objective offenses, like drug possession.)

The Kirwan Institute blames "cultural deficit thinking," which leads educators to "harbor negative assumptions about the ability, aspirations, and work ethic of these students-especially poor students of color-based on the assumption that they and their families do not value education." These racist perceptions create a stereotype that students of color are disrespectful and disruptive, which zero tolerance policies exploit.

"I see it. I work in it. And I know it exists," says Betsy Johnson, a Montgomery County, Md., middle school teacher who co-facilitates an NEA GPS Network community group about school-to-prison pipeline issues.

"No one wants to put it on the table, but when we have those courageous conversations, when we deal with structural racism, and when we do look inward at our own biases and differences, we can begin to heal," says Johnson. "We can begin to understand. And when we begin to understand it, we can pass it down to our children."

For Georgene Fountain, a Montgomery County, Md., teacher who authored the 2014 revisions to NEA's formal policy on student discipline, which encourages the use of preventative discipline and rehabilitative measures, the wake-up call came from Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

In her 2012 book, Alexander points out that nearly one in three Black men will spend time in U.S. prisons. "When I [met Alexander] she looked me in the eyeballs and said, 'What is your organization doing about this?'" recalls Fountain.

The School-to-Prison Pipeline: What NEA is Doing About It

In 2013, the NEA Representative Assembly, spurred by Fountain and others, committed NEA to end the school-to-prison pipeline. Since then, NEA leaders and members have helped raise awareness of the issue, shape district and state policies, and provide resources on restorative practices.

"With education resources being cut nationwide, many educators are so caught up in trying to do more with less," says Gilbert, "and many are not aware that when they remove a student from the classroom, they may be unknowingly feeding the school-to-prison pipeline. We've got to make more educators aware and we've got to give them better tools and skills."

In 2014, the Montgomery County Education Association and superintendent worked together on a new student code of conduct that minimizes suspensions and allows students to learn from their mistakes. Meanwhile, other districts have signed "memorandums of understanding" with local law enforcement agencies that keep minor offenders out of criminal courts.

It's clear that suspensions don't really work. "They're a way to get the kid out the classroom, but that's a really short-sighted view because that kid is coming back," says Daniel Kim, an organizer with Denver's Padres Unidos, which helped win a 2013 Colorado law restricting use of suspensions and ex pulsions. (Since its passage, suspensions in Colorado have fallen by 25 percent, while school attendance and punctuality have improved by 30 percent.) Maryland also passed a similar law last year.

But it's also clear that educators can't just end suspensions and hope for the best. "We still have far too many situations where teachers are being assaulted, and it's not taken seriously," says Charlotte Hayer, president of the Richmond (Va.) Education Association. For teaching and learning to take place, schools must be safe and caring places, she adds.

To Hayer, the answers must include teacher training on cultural awareness and diversity. "You need to teach teachers how to build relationships with students who might not be like them," she says.

Recently, many teachers have been getting the training they need through increasingly popular "restorative practices," that help educators get to the root of disciplinary issues. Teachers using them often "circle up" with students when problems occur, which means having in-depth, facilitated conversations that force students to practice empathy and take responsibility for the way their actions affect others.

Last year, to help members master that process, NEA partnered with the Advancement Project, the Opportunity to Learn Campaign and the American Federation of Teachers to release a restorative practices toolkit. "Start by reflecting on your own practice, and what you do in your classroom," urges Harry Lawson, associate director of NEA's Human and Civil Rights department.

None of these answers are easy, acknowledges Sarah Biehl, of the Children's Defense Fund-Ohio, and the solutions are made more complicated by issues around high-stakes testing and funding cuts. In California, the average school counselor has more than 1,016 students on his or her plate. Meanwhile, the year-long standardized testing frenzy that occurs in U.S. classrooms makes teachers anxious and stressed.

"Suspending a kid or sending them to the office is easy and quick. The things we're asking schools to do in place of those things are not easy and quick," Biehl says. "The answers are complicated, and I understand teachers need resources and tools to make these changes."

It's not easy or quick at Skinner Middle School anymore. This school year, James Duran has suspended just one kid. "Our approach is to keep the kids in, to do some kind of restorative approach, and maintain the attitude that 'you're going to school and you're going to learn,'" he says.

Just the other day, a student came to his office after cursing his teacher in the most offensive ways. "I really did it this time," the student announced. "You're going to have to suspend me, right?" he asked.

But Duran just chuckled. To the student's annoyance, Duran told him, "No, I am not suspending you. I'm keeping you here."

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The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Time to Shut it Down | NEA

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Suspensions and expulsions are doing more harm than good. Schools are getting better results by rejecting zero tolerance.

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What is the school to prison pipeline, and how is it affecting children across America? On this episode of Justice in America, Josie and her co-host, Derecka Purnell, talk to Judith Browne Dianis, the Executive Director of the Advancement Project. They'll discuss the forms that the school to prison pipeline takes, and the effects it has on poor, black, and brown kids in particular.
For more information please visit theappeal.org

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‎Justice In America: School to Prison Pipeline on Apple Podcasts

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What is the school to prison pipeline, and how is it affecting children across America? On this episode of Justice in America, Josie and her co-host, Derecka Purnell, talk to Judith Browne Dianis, the Executive Director of the Advancement Project. They'll discuss the forms that the school to prison...

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Listen to Why Race Matters Podcast Ep. 4: The School-To-Prison Pipeline on PBS Wisconsin

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Wisconsin has one of the widest achievement gaps in the country. In this episode, Angela Fitzgerald talks to Rudy Bankston, a survivor of the school-to-prison pipeline. Rudy shares his story of being wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison at the age of 19. They’ll also discuss intersecting themes of identity, as well as how education gaps and strict disciplinary policies in schools can lead to the suspension, expulsion and incarceration of Black students.

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The School to Prison Pipeline - Stuff To Blow Your Mind | iHeart

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No one ever says they want to be a convict when they grow up. Julie and Robert look at the School-to-Prison pipeline and the variables that form this insidious system in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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PUSHOUT | THE CRIMINALIZATION OF BLACK GIRLS IN SCHOOLS

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Pushout - The criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

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PUSHOUT is a feature length documentary which takes a close look at the educational, judicial and societal disparities facing Black Girls.

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Dr.K is an award-winning film director and producer of her first documentary short, Preschool to Prison. She's a shrewd visionary who can make magic and transform any space she's in. Unabashed and resolute in her stance against injustice of any kind, she is a staunch advocate for equitable resources in the Black and brown community, and special needs community.

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Elementary Genocide Part 1: The School to Prison Pipeline | Meaningful Movies Project

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This film addresses the social, cultural, political and personal ramifications of how the federal government allots money to each state, to build prisons based on the failure rate of 4th and 5th graders.

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Victor Rios says he has a childhood memory of sleeping on a kitchen floor, shivering, as roaches and rats crawled around him.

Raised in poverty by a single mother who had only a third-grade education, Rios struggled as a student as he faced challenges beyond the school walls. By the time he was 15, he had been convicted of three felonies. At one point, it looked like he wouldn't receive his high-school diploma.

But now, Rios is a professor and associate dean at the University of California, Santa Barbara - and he's working to empower young people who have been "pushed out" of school for reasons that include systemic forces beyond their control.

"We're not here to give you the power; you already got it," Rios tells a group in the short video above. "We're just here to facilitate. To see that power grow."

Rios's journey is chronicled in The Pushouts, a documentary that comes to PBS on Friday, Dec. 20, as part of Latino Public Broadcasting's VOCES series, and in the above digital short. Both the film and the short follow along as Rios's life comes full circle: He begins working with YO! Watts, a program for young adults who did not graduate high school, which isrun by Martin Flores, a mentor he had in high school.

"By saying 'dropout,' you're putting the blame on the individual," Flores says. "Pushed out, that says, 'Wait a minute, system. What's going on here? What are we doing wrong as a system to address this issue?'"

The Pushouts draws on footage of Rios that was filmed during the making of School Colors, a 1994 FRONTLINE documentary that followed students at Berkeley High School over the course of a year. Rios was one of many students from low-income backgrounds who seemed to be falling through the cracks.

But as the new film recounts, Rios would ultimately overcome the barriers that shaped his early years, thanks in part to the power of Flores' mentorship. He went on to earn not just his high-school diploma, but a college degree and then a Ph.D. As a sociologist, he's become an academic expert on the school-to-prison pipeline. Rios has dedicated his life to disrupting the very systems that he was once trapped by, and encouraging others to do the same.

In The Pushouts, viewers witness Rios in action as he teams up with Flores to work with youths participating in the YO! Watts program.

"I see Victor in a lot of these young people," Flores says in the film.

And Rios hopes the program's participants will see themselves in him, too.

"Martin Flores, he says to me, 'Brown people like us, we could go to college too, man,'" Rios tells a group of young people. "We believe in you. And we will love it that you believe in yourself so much that you could accomplish the unbelievable."

The Pushouts premieres Friday, December 20 on PBS, at pbs.org and on the PBS Video App. The film is part of , an initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Patrice Taddonio, Digital Writer & Audience Development Strategist, FRONTLINE

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WATCH: One Man's Fight Against the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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Victor Rios says he has a childhood memory of sleeping on a kitchen floor, shivering, as roaches and rats crawled around him. Raised in poverty by a single mother who had only a third-grade education, Rios struggled as a student as he faced challenges beyond the school walls.

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Skip to main content

School policies that include harsh punishments, automatic out-of-class time and police involvement for discipline contribute to pushing young people out of classrooms and into the criminal legal system. These punitive practices disproportionately affect Black and other children of color, students with disabilities, young people experiencing poverty and children from communities that have been historically marginalized.

Urgent change is needed to disrupt this school-to-prison pipeline. Together, educators and families can advocate for and implement practices that prioritize mental health and well-being and do not push children out of the classroom.

We offer these resources to open dialogue, shift practices and foster change to benefit all young people.

Learning for Justice Resources

The School-to-Prison Pipeline
Revisit this 2013 article that explains the basics of the school-to-prison pipeline and contends that policies and practices that favor incarceration over education do us all a grave injustice.

A Teachers Guide to Rerouting the Pipeline and Toolkit for Rerouting the Pipeline
This article and the accompanying toolkit illustrate how daily decisions can help divert students from the school-to-prison pipeline.

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What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and How Do We Disrupt It?

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School policies that include harsh punishments, automatic out-of-class time and police involvement for discipline contribute to pushing young people out of classrooms and into the criminal legal system. These punitive practices disproportionately affect Black and other children of color, students with disabilities, young people experiencing poverty and children from communities that have been historically marginalized.

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| xi →

We seem somehow destined to be confined for a time in a lockup-state-of-mind. Perhaps because we've lived so long in a culture of discipline and punish, or perhaps because the traditional American Puritanism became ravenous once again and demanded to be fed, or perhaps because our go-to-jail complex developed obsessive-compulsive hyper-activity-whatever the reasons, many Americans hardly noticed as we slipped down the proverbial slope that Angela Davis and Ruthie Gilmore, Erica Meiners and Bernardine Dohrn had predicted, and we woke up living in a full-blown prison nation. There's no sense denying it: we are now marked indelibly as a carceral state (look it up), with mass incarceration the defining fact of life in the United States today (whether acknowledged or not) just as slavery was the fundamental reality in the 1800s (whether acknowledged or not).

And that fact points to the true and deep-seated reason underneath the phenomenon of mass incarceration: white supremacy dressed up in modern garb, structural racism pure and simple. The system has been dubbed "the new Jim Crow" by the brilliant lawyer and activist Michelle Alexander, who notes that there are now more Black men in prison or on probation or parole than there were living in bondage as chattel slaves in 1850; that there are significantly more people caught up in the system of incarceration and supervision in America today-more than six million folks-than inhabited Stalin's Gulag at its height; that the American Gulag is the second largest city in this country, and that while the United ← xi | xii → States constitutes less than 5% of the world's people, it holds more than 25% of the world's combined prison population; that in the past twenty years the amount states have spent on prisons has risen six times the rate spent on higher education; and that on any given day tens of thousands of men, overwhelmingly Black and Latino men, are held in the torturous condition known as solitary confinement. You get the picture.

All of this indicates that we seem destined to be confined in that lockup-state-of-mind for the foreseeable future, or until we change the frame or flip the script, and-fed up-rise up.

That's precisely the assignment courageously taken on by Anthony J. Nocella II, Priya Parmar, and David Stovall-they want to revolutionize the conversation. And with From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline they've done just that, leaping into the whirlwind full force and constructing a powerful weapon for the forces of prison abolition, and an essential handbook for educators.

This book maps in devastating detail the treacherous path constructed by the powerful for the children of formerly enslaved human beings, recent immigrants, first-nation people, and the poor-a path that's earned the colorful metaphoric phrase "the school to prison pipeline." A pipeline runs in a single direction, and once entered into the mouth, destiny sweeps everything before it to the bottom; a pipeline offers no exits, no deviations or departures, no way out-unless it fractures. From Education to Incarceration is not focused on prison reform or tinkering with the mechanisms of the pipeline to make it "fairer" or more efficient; it's aimed, rather, at ripping open the pipeline, upending the assumptions that got us where we are, and then throwing every section of pipe and all the braces and supports into the dustbin of history.

Schools for the poor-many urban and rural schools, and increasingly suburban schools as well-share striking similarities with prisons. In each site, discipline and security take precedence over knowledge or human development; in each site, people are subordinated to the will of-and forced to follow a strict routine set by-others, isolated from the larger community, and coerced to do work that they have no part in defining; in each folks are inspected, regulated, appraised, censured, ordered about, indoctrinated, sermonized, checked off, assessed, and kept under constant surveillance, at every turn to be noted, registered, counted, priced, admonished, prevented, reformed, redressed, and corrected. And on top of all this, students and prisoners alike are most often described by their minders through their aggregate statistical profiles: race and ethnicity, occupation or family income, residence, and religion. Schools for the poor are the prep schools for the prisoners of tomorrow.

But in spite of the increasing use of disciplinary techniques in schools, the prison analogy breaks down in one significant way: teachers are not prison guards, and our highest aspiration is not summed up in a single word: control. ← xii | xiii → Teachers are positioned as both subjects and objects of school surveillance, and uniquely, then, situated to help students develop a critical awareness of, and perhaps even some potential lines of resistance to, the technology of power in today's maximum-security schools. Teachers can take the prison and the analogy, the pipeline and the metaphor, as objects of study.

In schools shot through with mechanisms of disciplinary surveillance, the technology of power itself can constitute part of a humanizing curriculum. Students can think critically about disciplinary power, about how they are being watched, by whom, and for what purpose. They can question, and they can act. By questioning and acting ourselves, teachers can show them how it's done.

| xv →

I come from a large Latino family. Including myself, there are six siblings. In all, I have twenty-three nieces and nephews and forty great-nieces and great-nephews. Some of them are just entering school; others have graduated from high school and are now attending institutions of higher education. Several have completed their baccalaureate degree and are entering graduate programs. One great-niece in particular has had her challenges as a student in a school where police officers are present every day. And as a result of a scuffle with another student, my great-niece was handcuffed, given a citation, and placed on file at the local juvenile criminal justice center. The citation, if not paid soon after issuance, will increase over time, and must be paid in full before my great-niece can submit a driver's license application for consideration.

Recently, this same great-niece decided to skip school for a day. As a result of her decision, the administration, in collaboration with the juvenile system, equipped her with an ankle monitor to track her every move, particularly during school days. This past year, my great-niece completed the eighth grade and cele-brated her 14th birthday-and she is on what some call the "school to prison pipeline." Unfortunately, the case of my great-niece is not unusual; it is all too common.

Across the United States, police habitually arrest youths and transport them to juvenile detention centers and, depending on the age of the youth, sometimes to the city or county jail. More often than not, these individuals are arrested for ← xv | xvi → minor disruptions. The arrests do not take place in the early weekend morning hours nor do they take place in questionable neighborhoods. Rather, these arrests occur in PK-12 schools, a place where students should feel protected; a place that is often referred to as the "equal playing field"; a place that is often identified as the "gateway" to higher education. Unfortunately for some students, there is a significant divide between what schools should be and what schools are.

Surges in arrests among youths similar in age to my great-niece have occurred for such infractions as scuffles, truancy, cussing, and disobeying directions. And in no other state have these school-based arrests been more prevalent than in Texas, the state where I work as dean of education for a small master's degree-granting institution. According to the New York Times, (Eckholm, 2013) police officers based in Texas schools write more than 100,000 citations each year for students. And most often, the students receiving the citations lack access to legal counsel, amass huge fines, are required to do community service, or receive a criminal record that may weaken their prospects for future employment or service to country. De'Angelo Rollins, a 12-year-old middle school student, became a statistic in Texas's growing number of incidents between school-based police officers and students. After he and another boy scuffled, both were given citations. Specifically, Rollins pleaded no contest, paid a fine, was sentenced to twenty hours of community service, and was placed on four months of probation. Our school system is now looking a lot like our criminal justice system. And the students arrested are getting younger.

Take, for example, Salecia Johnson. According to CNN Newswire, (Campbell, 2012) when officers arrived at Creekside Elementary in Milledgeville, Georgia, Salecia was on the floor of the principal's office screaming and crying. After numerous attempts to calm Salecia down, she pulled away from the officers and resisted them when they tried to pick her up. According to the police report, Salecia was eventually handcuffed and brought to a police station.

This school to prison pipeline has been funneling more and more students over the years. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has identified several onerous factors that help clear this path to incarceration. The first factor is students' attendance at under-performing schools. Low-performing schools are usually located in impoverished communities and have high gaps in achievement when compared with other schools. These low-performing schools tend to have substandard facilities, lack up-to-date books, have high faculty turnover, and more often than not, hire unlicensed or unqualified teachers. It is not unusual for teachers to have low expectations of students, which can contribute to students' decisions to skip school or even drop out entirely.

The second factor underlying the school to prison pipeline is the rather abstract world of zero tolerance discipline policies, which are in place at many schools and which have very concrete, real-world effects. These policies leave ← xvi | xvii → little room for questions or for consideration of complex circumstances, and usually result in expulsion or suspension from school; that is, zero tolerance is applied across the board for a variety of infractions and circumstances. As a result, students are more likely to get pushed through the pipeline and into the juvenile justice system than would be the case if the students were exposed to tailored, thoughtful interventions.

The third factor is students' attendance at schools where police staff the hallways and deal with schoolwide discipline. Rather than rely on teachers and administrators to handle school-discipline issues, school districts are enlisting full-time police officers. This means that students are more likely to be arrested for nonviolent behaviors than in the past. The fourth factor is alternative schools where some students enroll after having been expelled or suspended from traditional schools and where the students can expect to receive a sub-par education derived from remedial curriculum. The combination of these factors can have the effect of increasing the likelihood that troubled students will wind up in a local juvenile detention facility.

This school to prison pipeline needs to be cut off and dismantled. That's exactly what this volume proposes in detail. It reviews and clarifies works by scholars and practitioners who are exploring ways to confront and overcome this dangerous mindset privileging incarceration over education. The volume is divided into five parts whose topics range from the culture of youth incarceration to recommended alternatives to youth incarceration. The writings in this volume uncover important yet subtle relationships between the targeting of youth, incarceration rates, the segregating of youth, and the need for transformation. The volume pushes us to understand not only the devastation of imprisoning our youth but also solutions to the problem.

REFERENCES

Campbell, A., (April 17, 2012). 6-year-old student handcuffed, arrested by police in Georgia. http://www.12newsnow.com/story/17516292/6-year-old0student-handcuffed-arrested-by-police-in-georgia.

Eckholm, E., (April 12, 2013). With police in schools, more children in court. New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/education/with-police-in-schools-more-children-in-court-.html.

| xix →

Acknowledgments

Anthony, Priya, and David would like to give love to our family and friends, who have supported us, challenged us, and laughed with us over the many years on this planet. We would also like to thank everyone at Peter Lang especially Phyllis Korper, Stephen Mazur, Inda Muntu, Chris Myers, Bernadette Shade, Sophie Appel, and the series editor Shirley Steinberg, a wonderful scholar and human being. We would also like to thank the brilliant and powerful contributors to this book, who allowed us to make a radical and critical tool to aid in the dismantling of the school to prison pipeline, prison industrial complex, and the academic industrial complex. We would like to give great appreciation to Bill Ayers for writing the Foreword, Frank Hernandez for writing the Preface, and Bernardine Dohrn for writing the Afterword. We would like to thank Jason Del Gandio, Peter McLaren, Barbara Madeloni, Heidi Boghosian, Mechthild Nagel, Jamie Utt, Joy James, Emery Petchauer, Paul C. Gorski, Ruth Kinna, César A. Rossatto, David Gabbard, Paul R. Carr, John Lupinacci, E. Wayne Ross, Steve Fletcher, and Joanna Lowry for reviewing this book on such a short deadline. Finally, we would like to thank each other, the editors, for the collaboration, creativity, the long talks, many e-mails, and struggle to make this important book come to life! We hope From Education to Incarceration will create consciousness and inspire youth, teachers, professors, community organizers, politicians, and activists to take action against high-stakes tests, standardization, cultural imperialism, normalcy, push-outs, special education, segregated education, youth detentions, police brutality, and continued police presence in schools.

| 1 →

Introduction

Every Day Is Like Skydiving Without a Parachute: A Revolution for Abolishing the School to Prison Pipeline

ANTHONY J. NOCELLA II, PRIYA PARMAR, AND DAVID STOVALL

Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice.

IT STILL AIN'T GOOD FOR MOST FOLKS ...

July 13, 2013: A jury of six (predominantly white) women found George Zimmerman, whose mother is Hispanic and whose father is white, not guilty of manslaughter or second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American male walking home in a gated complex in Florida after purchasing a drink and some candy. Despite the fact that Trayvon was an unarmed minor with no criminal record, a jury of Zimmerman's supposed peers concluded that Zimmerman believed his life was being threatened and was justified in shooting Trayvon through the chest. Even though law enforcement had told Zimmerman to wait in his car and not to pursue Trayvon, the jury felt that Zimmerman was justified in his pursuit of the teen. Per a law deeply rooted in Florida's "stand your ground" legislation, armed persons are allowed to use deadly force if they feel their life is in danger. ← 1 | 2 →

August 9, 2014: Ferguson, Missouri, 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by 28-year-old police officer, Darren Wilson. Wilson claimed he feared for his life as Brown approached him. As a result, Wilson shot the unarmed Brown twelve times. A Grand Jury failed to indict.

July 14, 2014: Staten Island, New York, 43-year-old Eric Garner died as a result of an illegal chokehold performed by 29-year-old NYPD officer, Daniel Pantaleo. Once Garner was brought to the ground, Pantaleo released his chokehold, but kept Garner's face pressed to the concrete as four other officers attempted to restrain him. As Garner was lying face down on the sidewalk, pleading with them by repeatedly (twelve times) stating "I can't breathe," officers refused to release pressure until Garner lost consciousness. Paramedics arrived seven minutes later but failed to administer CPR. Approximately one hour later, Garner was officially pronounced dead at the local hospital. The Medical Examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide as a result of the chokehold by Pantaleo. A Grand Jury failed to indict.

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Peter Lang Verlag - From Education to Incarceration

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xi → We seem somehow destined to be confined for a time in a lockup-state-of-mind.

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being bad: my baby brother and the school-to-prison pipeline (the teaching for social justice series)

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african american boys - education - social aspects

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african american high school students - illinois - biography

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african american young men - education - social aspects

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african-american males; black boys; youth criminal justice; zero tolerance; black masculinity; prison reform; schools and prisons

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education/student life & student affairs

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education/student life & student affairs

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Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline (The Teaching for Social Justice Series)

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Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline (The Teaching for Social Justice Series) [Laura, Crystal T., Ayers, William, Quinn, Therese, Meiners, Erica R.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline (The Teaching for Social Justice Series)

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"With its insights into the importance of deep organizing and into leadership by the most directly impacted, Willful Defiance is an important history and analysis of a movement that has a profound effect on US schooling, with much to offer both activists and scholars of community organizing and social movements" -- Harvard Education Review

"...is an important contribution to the expanding literature on the school--to--prison pipeline." -- Montel Gordon, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, Ethinic and Racial Studies

"Inspiring! Warren weaves the facts about the harms caused by the school-to-prison pipeline, historical accounts, and first-person recollections of community organizers into a remarkable story of hope and resistance. Sixty years after the civil rights movement, it is remarkable and discouraging that Black and Brown communities are once again forced to defend their right to vote, and to fight for their children's right to learn about race and racism in our schools. Yet the narrative of Willful Defiance shows that, in the face of long odds, parents and students represent a forceful voice for change. The local efforts and national networks they created have demonstrated that, through persistence and dogged organizing, it is possible to bring an end to the harmful effects of exclusionary discipline and school policing, and to create schools in which Black and Brown students can thrive." -- Russell J. Skiba, Professor Emeritus, Indiana University

" Willful Defiance provides important ammunition to the growing movement to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Through a multi-year study of grassroots organizing efforts, Mark Warren shows us how communities are taking control of their schools by challenging unjust school discipline policies and practices, and reclaiming the lives of children who have been treated unfairly. Too often, educators who should be providing guidance and support, rely upon punitive school discipline to punish the neediest children. We can and must do a better job at addressing the needs of vulnerable youth. This book shows us how to do so." -- Pedro A. Noguera, Dean, University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education

" Willful Defiance tells the story of power, the power of the people who shine a light on oppression before most are aware of it; then organize to dismantle that oppression. Racism is the foundation of these policies and parents and young people are standing up against it. This book gives us the inspiration to join the movement to stop the school-to-prison pipeline. Grassroots community organizing can change our world. Si Se puede!" -- Dolores Huerta, President, Dolores Huerta Foundation, and cofounder, United Farm Workers

" Willful Defiance is the first and only book on the grassroots movement to end racist school discipline policy and policing in our public schools. It shows what can be done when parents and students organize to demand an end to the criminalization of youth of color. Richly detailed and powerfully written, it is a must read for all those who care about the fight for freedom in Black and Brown communities." -- Marc Lamont Hill, Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions, Temple University

"Few educators and researchers have investigated complex issues in quite the way that Mark Warren has. In Willful Defiance , Warren returns to sites of struggle in which Black and Brown parents generate powerful local and national movements for educational justice. His loving critique of the challenges we face makes for essential reading for educators, policymakers, parents, and grassroots organizers interested in successfully taking up intersectional frameworks." -- Kimberlé Crenshaw, Professor of Law and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum

"Mark Warren approaches the ever-evolving movement to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline with the expertise and care our people deserve. This book tells a more complete story about the power of organized defiance to transform educational systems that fail to offer what our communities deserve. Warren beautifully illustrates how young people, parents and communities are redefining what is possible by showing us how to create compassionate and holistic approaches to learning and building power." -- Charlene Carruthers, founding national director of BYP100 (Black Youth Project 100)

" Willful Defiance eloquently and powerfully demonstrates what can be accomplished when the people who experience the oppressive systems, structures and policies in our society are the ones that define and determine the solutions that create racially equitable policies and practices in schools. This book provides a rich, historical overview of how families and students of color organized and engaged in, in the words of John Lewis "good trouble, necessary trouble" to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, not only in their local communities, but across the country. Willful Defiance is a timely reminder of what justice actually looks like in practice." -- Karen L. Mapp, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education

"This book offers detailed lessons for community activists, social justice researchers, and college students...Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals." -- Choice

" Willful Defiance provides a rich history of a critical racial and educational justice movement advanced through individual efforts and intentional collaborations." -- Nora Gross, American Journal of Sociology

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Willful Defiance: The Movement to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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Willful Defiance: The Movement to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline [Warren, Mark R.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Willful Defiance: The Movement to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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This important volume examines how and why increasing numbers of students, disproportionately youth of color, are being taken from our schools and put into our prisons. Williamson and Appleman, along with a collection of scholars, teacher educators, K-12 teachers, an administrator, and an incarcerated student, offer their perspectives on how schooling can be restructured to disrupt this flow and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. They present clearly articulated strategies on curriculum, pedagogy, and disciplinary practices that can help redirect our collective efforts away from carceral practices. By considering chapters from prison educators and an essay by a currently incarcerated student (the end of the pipeline), readers will plainly see the disciplinary and curricular issues that need to be addressed in our schools. The text includes examples of meaningful ways to engage students that could be incorporated into a variety of classrooms, from social studies to science to English language arts.

Book Features:

Instructive cautionary tales with specific pedagogical and policy suggestions.

Alternatives to discipline in schools, such as restorative justice and positive behavioral support.

Insights to help educators consider the trajectory of their students, as well as suggestions for making the curriculum both relevant and sustaining.

Directly addresses the ways in which an understanding of the mechanisms of the school-to-prison pipeline can be woven into teacher preparation.

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School, Not Jail: How Educators Can Disrupt School Pushout and Mass Incarceration

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School, Not Jail: How Educators Can Disrupt School Pushout and Mass Incarceration [Williamson, Peter, Appleman, Deborah, Alim, H. Samy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. School, Not Jail: How Educators Can Disrupt School Pushout and Mass Incarceration

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In an era dominated by a focus on academic accountability, it is critical to understand that academic engagement and school discipline cannot be disentangled. Punitive and exclusionary practices in our schools and juvenile justice system threaten the life chances of too many American children and youth, especially those who have been historically marginalized. This book shines a light on the threats posed by the school-to-prison pipeline, the experiences of those who have been its victims, and strategies for disrupting and deconstructing that pipeline. Russ Skiba, director, The Equity Project, Indiana University"

The national crisis posed by the school-to-prison pipeline calls on us to go beyond conventional policy, funding, leadership, and action. As this book clearly shows, disrupting the pipeline from end to end will require a complete reorientation of our values, systems, and practices, so as to construct new educational rights and opportunities for young people. Maisie Chin, executive director/cofounder, Community Asset Development Redefining Education (CADRE)
"

The "school-to-prison pipeline," a fast-growing and alarming development, comprises a range of circumstances whereby "children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems." Scholars, educators, parents, students, and organizers across the country have pointed to this shocking trend, insisting that it be identified and understood--and that it be addressed as an urgent matter by the larger community.

This new volume from the Harvard Educational Review features essays from scholars, educators, students, and community activists who are working to disrupt, reverse, and redirect the pipeline. Alongside these authors are contributions from the people most affected: youth and adults who have been incarcerated, or whose lives have been shaped by the school-to-prison pipeline. Their writings add to the book's comprehensive portrait of how our education and justice systems function--and how they fail to serve the interests of many young people.

A trenchant and wide-ranging look at this alarming national trend, Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline is unsparing in its account of the problem while pointing in the direction of meaningful and much-needed reforms.

"The national crisis posed by the school-to-prison pipeline calls on us to go beyond conventional policy, funding, leadership, and action. As this book clearly shows, disrupting the pipeline from end to end will require a complete reorientation of our values, systems, and practices, so as to construct new educational rights and opportunities for young people." -- Maisie Chin , executive director/cofounder, Community Asset Development Redefining Education (CADRE)

"In an era dominated by a focus on academic accountability, it is critical to understand that academic engagement and school discipline cannot be disentangled. Punitive and exclusionary practices in our schools and juvenile justice system threaten the life chances of too many American children and youth, especially those who have been historically marginalized. This book shines a light on the threats posed by the school-to-prison pipeline, the experiences of those who have been its victims, and strategies for disrupting and deconstructing that pipeline." -- Russ Skiba , director, The Equity Project, Indiana University

Contributors include Starcia Ague, Kathy Boudin, Kathleen B. Boundy, Joseph Cambone, Seth G. Cooper, Christopher Dankovich, Bobby Dean Evans, Jr., Jane Hereth, Mariame Kaba, Joanne Karger, Paul Kuttner, Daniel J. Losen, Kavitha Mediratta, Erica R. Meiners, Pedro A. Noguera, Douglas W. Price, Elizabeth A. Reid, David H. Rose, Derek R. Russel, Michael Satterfield, Peter Sipe, Sabina E. Vaught, Alejandro G. Vera, Lewis Wallace, and Robert Wilson.

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Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline (HER Reprint Series)

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Amazon.com: Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline (HER Reprint Series): 9780916690540: Bahena, Sofía, Cooc, North, Currie-Rubin, Rachel, Kuttner, Paul, Ng, Monica: Books