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The School to Prison Pipeline describes the tragic journey that begins in segregated, impoverished schools and ends in juvenile halls and adults prisons for far too many children of color. Youths traveling through this pipeline are frequently taught by unqualified teachers in overcrowded, dilapidated facilities, forced to endure sub-standard curriculum, tested on material they were never taught, removed to separate and inadequate special education programs, repeatedly suspended, expelled and even arrested for relatively minor offenses, held back in grade, banished to alternative schools, before they finally drop or are pushed out of school, thus tripling the likelihood that they will spend time in prison.
The School to Prison pipeline is derailing individual lives, devastating families and communities, and threatening our nation's economic future. Yet, preliminary research indicates that jail is not the inevitable destiny for children trapped within this pipeline. Rather, their journey through the pipeline is accelerated by the convergence of ill-conceived policies and practices permeating both educational and juvenile justice systems, and by the failure of these two systems to work together to improve the life chances of at-risk youths. Fortunately, these ineffective and costly policies can be dismantled and replaced with interventions and programs aimed, first, at keeping more at-risk youths in school through, at a minimum, completion of high school, and, second, at helping those who have dropped out or been sent to juvenile halls to successfully re-enter communities and schools.
The focus of our initiative will be on:
1. more fully understanding and documenting the trajectory of the pipeline as it unfolds in various communities;
2. identifying and widely disseminating research-based solutions for redirecting the pipeline
We will produce action kits, manuals, and other tools useful to advocates, and conduct trainings for juvenile judges, defense attorneys, school officials, and others. We will also seek out opportunities to work directly with educational, law enforcement, and juvenile justice officials to provide the data and information they need to address these issues within their jurisdictions and states. |