We're Throwing Kids in Jail for a Trifle -- It's Time to End the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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http://www.alternet.org/were-throwing-kids-jail-trifle-its-time-end-school-prison-pipeline



Incoming New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not lack for issues demanding his immediate attention. Among them are the historic levels of income inequality and homelessness, as well as the matter of a militarized police force and its abuse of power, particularly with regard to communities of color. So he certainly has his work cut out for him. But if he wishes to address many of these urgent issues at the same time while also tackling something of great importance in its own right, a major priority for his administration should be closing the school-to-prison pipeline—the name given to a set of regressive, “zero tolerance” policies that frequently end up pushing students into the criminal justice system instead of through school.

In May of last year, the New York Times editorial board described the situation as follows: “School officials across the country responded to a surge in juvenile crime during the 1980s and the Columbine High School shootings a decade later by tightening disciplinary policies and increasing the number of police patrolling public schools. One unfortunate result has been the creation of a repressive environment in which young people are suspended, expelled or even arrested over minor misbehaviors—like talking back or disrupting class—that would once have been handled by the principal.”

In fact, the results of these policies are more than just “unfortunate”; they’re racist. The stats bear this out. As Molly Knefel reported in Rolling Stone, half of the New York City students suspended during Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s tenure were black, even though black students made up around one-third of the student population. And this is on top of the overpolicing they face in their daily lives, namely as a result of the controversial practice of stop-and-frisk.

In the same article, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), noted that students living in neighborhoods with high rates of stop-and-frisk are also more likely to be suspended than their peers from neighborhoods with lower rates.

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1. The School to prison Pipeline is there to facilitate

the private prison system. That has to go first.

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2. indeed -- i'd go so far as to say privatization has become a blight on governance. nt