The School-to-Prison Pipeline

The policies and practices that push students, primarily students of color, out of classrooms and into the criminal justice system, contributing to America’s fixation with mass incarceration and hyper-criminalization of youth.

quick facts

AS OF 2009, 3 MILLION STUDENTS ARE SUSPENDED EVERY YEAR

JUST 1 OUT-OF-SCHOOL SUSPENSION DOUBLES A STUDENT'S RISK OF DROPPING OUT

PER EACH STUDENT THAT DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL, IT COSTS $582,000

FOR EVERY 1 WHITE STUDENT SUSPENDED, 3.5 BLACK STUDENTS ARE SUSPENDED

LGBTQ YOUTH ARE 3X MORE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE HARSH DISCIPLINARY TREATMENT BY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

BLACK GIRLS ARE 6 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO GET SUSPENDED THAN WHITE GIRLS

EVERY 7 SECONDS, A LATIN@ STUDENT IS SUSPENDED

BLACK STUDENTS ACCOUNT FOR 18% OF ALL PRESCHOOLERS, BUT REPRESENT 48% OF ALL PRESCHOOL SUSPENSIONS

So are students of color more prone to misbehavior?

elements to the school-to-prison pipeline

• Zero-Tolerance Policies
• Police in Schools
• Implicit Bias

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICIES:
Punishing any infraction of a rule, regardless of accidental mistakes, ignorance, or extenuating circumstances.

Arrested & Expelled

pOLICE IN sCHOOLS

The federal government has spent more than $800 million to put police in schools

24 POLICE OFFICERS CALLED AND 7 STUDENTS ARRESTED

implicit bias

Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.

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2 WEEK SUSPENSION

SOLUTION?

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Base Building

MEET WITH DECISION MAKERS

mEETING WITH DECISION MAKERS

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making noise

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vICTORY

THE NEW HAVEN SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE

Disparities in discipline

“School policy violations” – such as skipping class, insubordination, or using profanity – were involved in 9% of student arrests, 6% of expulsions, 50% of out-of-school suspensions, and 79% of in-school suspensions

Black students are 4.7 times more likely to be arrested, 4.9 times more likely to be expelled, and 6.5 times more likely to be suspended than white students.

Students in the poorest urban areas were arrested nearly 23X more often, expelled over 17X more often, and suspended 24X more often than students in the wealthiest suburban areas.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Local Organizations

• Educational Opportunity and Juvenile Justice Clinic (EOJJC)
• Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance
• Teach Our Children
• Save The Kids (New Haven Chapter)

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