the school-to-prisonpipeline - duke university school of law · ppt file · web view2015-02-12 ·...
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The School-to-PrisonPipeline
School-to-Prison Pipeline
A system of laws, policies, and practices that pushes students out of schools and into the juvenile and criminal systems
An over-reliance on school suspension to manage behavior
A willingness to view adolescent misbehavior as criminal activity
Where does the pipeline begin?In elementary school!
Short-term suspension in NC schools, by year
Long-term suspensions in NC schools, by year
North Carolina statistics
2012-13
750,000 school days lost to suspension from school
248,000 short-term suspensions (1-10 days)
1,423 long-term suspensions (more than 10 days)
37 permanent expulsions
Overall rate:
1 in 11 students suspended
In high school, 1 in 8
North Carolina does not report the reasons for suspensions in its Annual Report. Reports from around the country show that short-terms suspensions are often for vaguely-defined conduct such as defiance, disrespect, or disobedience. These are very discretionary with teachers and school administrators unlike something more concrete like fighting.
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Who is in the pipeline?
Students more likely than others to be in the school-to-prison pipeline:
Start behind on social and academic skills due to limited enrichment from birth age 5
Have continued poor academic achievement, often having been retained in at least one grade
Have been raised in a low-income, single-parent household
Have no or limited family history of post-secondary education
Racial disparities in school suspension
percentage of black students suspendedsuspendednot suspended1783
percentage of white students suspendedsuspendednot suspended595
Disability disparities in school suspensions
General population
Suspended students
Column1Students with disabilitiesStudents without disabilities0.120.88
Column2Students with disabilitiesStudents without disabilities0.260.74Column3Students with disabilitiesStudents without disabilities2.44.4000000000000004
How do students move through the pipeline?
As an affected student misses more school and feels the sting of rejection and unfairness, misbehavior gets worse, not better
Student may begin skipping school to avoid negative interactions and embarrassment of poor academic achievement
Student begins engaging in unlawful community behavior, such as vandalism, theft, etc.
Student may connect with gangs or other excluded students
Student gets arrested and ultimately incarcerated
Policing in schools
School resource officers (SROs) are law enforcement officers permanently assigned to work in schools
Nearly all high schools in the state have at least one SRO
Two-thirds of middle schools have at least one SRO
20 percent of elementary schools have an SRO
School Resource Officers
Steady increase in the number of SROs in schools
Can create an atmosphere of hostility and control rather than safety and support
More SROs result in more school-related behaviors becoming juvenile and criminal offenses
Having a juvenile or criminal record has many collateral consequences opportunities squelched due to a record
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School-based offenses/juvenile complaints
46% of all juvenile complaints are the result of school-based offenses (students under age 16).
Top three delinquent offenses:
Simple assault
Misdemeanor larceny
Disorderly conduct at school
No data are kept on how many 16 and 17-year-olds have criminal charges for school-based offenses, but anecdotally, we know it is a high number
No one is keeping data on how many adult criminal charges (for 16-year-olds and older) are school-based offenses. This is part of the system of mass incarceration we have in our country: our prison population has grown by 700 percent since 1970
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Disability disparities in arrests
At least one in three juveniles arrested has a disability
Students with disabilities are three times more likely to be arrested before leaving high school than the general population.*
*Source: The Hechinger Report, Oct. 26, 2014
Pipeline to Prison: Special Education Too Often Leads to Jail for Thousands of American Children
Students with emotional disabilities tend to be more impulsive, less able to problem-solve, and less able to manage emotions, resulting in aggressive or other disorderly behaviors
Evidence about school suspensions
For individuals students, school suspension is linked to:
Poor academic achievement, both short term & long term
Lasting disconnection between suspended student and school
Increased truancy and future misbehavior
Increased risk of later incarceration
Difficult to find evidence that suspension reduces misbehavior; higher rates of suspension do not correlate with safer, more orderly schools
Zero-tolerance policies the no-excuses, rigid discipline policies that became popular after Columbine have not been associated with improved school safety. Higher uses of zero-tolerance policies are more likely to be correlated with lower academic performance school-wide, higher rates of drop-out, higher rates of delayed graduation, more academic disengagement, and higher numbers of disciplinary exclusions overall.
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Reversing the Pipeline
Commitment to Change
Prevention
Intervention
Alternatives
Suspend fewer childrenLong-term suspension trend in NC is declining
From 2008- 2013, this represents a 63% decrease in the number of LT suspensions. Number of students went from 1.2 million to 1.5 million during this period, making the decrease even more dramatic.
Numbers are as follows:
1999-00 2,216
2000-01 2,712
2003-04 4,024
2005-06 3,949
2007-08 5,225
2008-09 3,592
2009-10 3,368
2010-11 2,621
2011-12 1,609
2012-13 1,423
WAKE COUNTY
12-13 337
11-12 403
10-11 577
09-10 837
08-09 1,015
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Long-Term1999-002000-012003-042005-062007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-132216271240243949522535923368262116091423Column11999-002000-012003-042005-062007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13Column21999-002000-012003-042005-062007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13
Change the law
2011 N.C. General Assembly revised the state law on school discipline
Left discipline primarily in the discretion of local school boards, but
Made zero tolerance approach unlawful
Requires the consider mitigating circumstances
Requires that long-term suspensions be restricted to serious violations of board policy
Encourages use of alternatives to suspension
Spelled out due process procedures
Change local policies
School boards can limit the authority of principals and the superintendent to impose suspensions in certain circumstances
Examples
No suspension from elementary school
No suspension on first offense
No suspension until certain interventions are tried
No suspension for longer than 30 days
No suspension for certain offenses (i.e., disrespect, disobedience)
No court referrals for most school offenses
Prevention strategies
Engage students in academics
Support & train staff in behavior management, cultural competency
Implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support
Reduce class size
Make social, emotional, and behavioral education a regular part of school
Engage parents
Interventions
Student support teams
Mentoring & counseling
Social work services
Substance abuse intervention
Personal Education Plans
Effective IEPs for students with disabilities
Alternatives
Mediation
Restorative justice
Restitution
Community service
Effective alternative schools
Effective in-school alternative learning centers
Support efforts to Raise the Age
North Carolina is the only state in the United States that always treats 16 and 17 year olds as adults in the criminal justice system
Deprives 16 & 17 year olds of the rehabilitative aspects of juvenile system
Deprives 16 & 17 year olds of the confidentiality of the juvenile system (giving them public criminal records)
Results in incarceration in adult jails
Learn more
Youth Justice North Carolina -- http://youthjusticenc.org/
Watch the documentary:
North Carolinas School to Prison Pipeline
NC Child -- Raise the Age
http://www.ncchild.org/what-children-need/juvenile-justice
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