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The
School-to-Prison Pipeline
By Anthony Bouyer, PhD
Guest Column
Every several years there is a new catch phrase that grabs
the public attention. In order to understand the gravity of
these catch phrases, we must understand what social,
instructional, and political policies or conditions that
produced the catch phrases. The school-to-prison-pipeline
has generated a national conversation on how it has impacted
public school students, particularly students of color. In
order to proceed with this conversation, let me provide some
back ground on the school-to-prison-pipeline.
According to Toldson (2011) “Over the past several decades a
number of policy organizations have called for reversing a
trend commonly known as ‘the school-to-prison pipeline.’”
The school-to-prison pipeline argument typically highlights
the following:
(a)
Zero-tolerance disciplinary policies at school often
precipitate youth involvement with the juvenile justice
system
(b)
Schools that rely on law enforcement to handle minor
offenses are tracking students into the juvenile justice
system
(c)
Not having adequate educational accommodations for students
with special needs and unique life circumstances lead to
greater involvement of youth in the juvenile justice system
(d)
All of the problems related to the school-to-prison pipeline
disproportionately affect African American males.
Zero tolerance policies were put into place ensure school
safety, but the implementation of zero tolerance policies
nationally has failed to improve school, community or
student safety (Children’s Defense Fund 2012).
“Research suggests exclusionary zero-tolerance approaches to
school behaviors are not the best way to create a safe
climate“ (Skiba and Sprague 2008, p. 38).
According to Jimenez (2018) research shows public schools
have overdisciplined African American and Latino students,
as well as students with disabilities and English language
learners for at least 40 years. This trend is highly
prevalent in urban low-income schools with a high minority
population (Dupper, Theriot, and Craun, 2009).
Every other year since 1968, the Office for Civil Rights has
conducted the Civil Rights Data Collection, chronicling
public school programs and, over time, the rates of
seclusion, restraint, and exclusionary discipline practices.
Because of these data, in 2014, the U.S. Department of
Education reiterated the legal limitation of exclusionary
discipline and reminded school districts of their
responsibility to serve all students.
Further research according to Balingit (2018) indicates that
black students continue today to face greater suspension,
expulsion and arrest than their white classmates, and the
disparities have widened despite efforts to fix them.
Balingit continues to show how the Civil Rights Data
Collection contains detailed information for 2015-2016
school year on more than 96,000 public schools, where
evidence indicates that certain young people, including
black, Hispanic and American Indian male students face
harsher discipline than their white counterparts. These
disparities are widespread and have persisted regardless of
the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty or
type of public school attended.
The Obama administration in 2014 issued guidance aimed at
curbing suspensions and expulsions. It also warned school
districts that they could be violating civil rights laws if
significant and inexplicable racial disparities exist in
discipline. The Trump administration is weighing eliminating
the Obama-era guidance and that brought criticism from some
educators that such elimination would make some schools less
safe.
Conservatives, on the other hand, believe the federal
government should have little say in school discipline.
Conservatives argue racial suspensions gap can be explained
by differences in behavior that are driven in large part by
those same background factors that affect the achievement
gap, such as poverty, fatherlessness and low levels of
parental education. However, to the contrary, there is
racial bias in discipline practice because poverty rates or
levels of misbehavior do not entirely explain the
disparities.
Teachers and schools must be equipped to serve all students.
The teaching force remains overwhelmingly white. However,
since 2014, the majority of public school students have been
non-white, and public schools continue to serve a growing
number of low-income students. In many school districts in
America, public schools are more segregated today than
before Brown vs the Board of Education.
It is important to examine the extent to which race may
influence how teachers interpret and respond to students’
behavior and guard against bias.
SOLUTIONS
·
Educational polices should address the natural social
disadvantages that students might have from low income homes
by supplementing schools in impoverished areas with
resources to build and maintain school-based activities.
·
Juvenile justice polices should be examined to reduce the
frequency and burden of jail and detention center
involvement among black males.
·
Teacher profiles were particularly effective in fostering
academic growth among black males:
·
Teachers who were interested in their students as a person.
·
Teachers who treated them fairly.
·
Teachers who encouraged them to express their views, and
gave extra help when needed.
·
Teachers who were effective also routinely let their
students know when they did a good job.
·
Black male students perform best in environments they
perceive as safe.
·
High-achieving black males reported feeling safe more often
in school.
·
Low-achieving black males were more likely to carry a weapon
to school for self-defense then middle- or high-achieving
black male students.
·
The classroom teacher is the critical linchpin in student
engagement.
·
The statistical findings in Breaking Barriers are
consistent with the research literature that confirms a
relationship between teacher quality and diversity and
student success.
·
Demographic mismatch between the public-school student
population and its teaching force:
·
The demographic mismatch between African-American students
and the adults who teach them has reached the point that
many African-American students can get through 13 years of
public education and never have an African-American teacher.
If students are to believe that they may be educated people,
then they need to see diverse examples. They stand as models
of what it is like to be an educated person. Perhaps the
singular thing that policymakers can do to respond is to
expand the minority teaching pipeline and fund efforts to
increase the number of African-American male teachers.
Less than two percent of the nation’s teachers
are African-American males.
I was recently invited to be a panelist on a
school-to-prison-pipeline, however, that offer was
rescinded. When real change occurs it’s because that
elephant in the room is addressed “Race”, we cannot address
problems without asking uncomfortable questions that demands
solutions.
References
Balingit, Moriah. (2018) Racial disparities in school
discipline are growing: federal data show. The Washington
Post.
Jimenez, McDonald, A., Shapiro, S. (2018) Public schools
must address disparities in discipline rates. The Center for
American Progress.
Toldson, I.A. (2011). Breaking Barriers 2: Plotting the
Path Away from Juvenile Detention and toward Academic
Success for School-age African American Males.
Washington, D.C.: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation,
Inc.
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