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PRO BONOWEEK 2015–
RISE ABOVE YOUR NARROW CONFINES
A
cross the country, schools have
increasingly relied on exclusion-
ary discipline, zero-tolerance
policies, and law enforcement tactics to
address student conduct. This has led to
a national crisis commonly referred to as
The “School-to-Prison Pipeline” (“STPP”).
Since the “Gun-Free School Zones Act”
and “Safe and Drug Free Schools and
Communities Act” of the 1990s, we have
seen a marked increase in schools’ use of
penal approaches to discipline. Schools
widely rely on exclusionary discipline
Consider these two scenarios:
One snowy day, Jordan and his friends werewalking home froma basketball
game. On their way, they saw one of their coaches who was always “cool”
and playful with students. As a joke, Jordan’s friends dared him to throw
a snowball at the coach. However, when Jordan threw the snowball, the
coach did not find it very funny. Instead, he became upset and reported
the incident to the school’s administrators the next day.
One day, Brandon came to school really upset after learning that a close
friend had just passed away. Brandon was a high school junior, played foot-
ball for his school, and wanted to enroll in college on a football scholarship.
As hewaswalking into thebuilding to talk tohis counselor, a school resources
officer stopped him to ask that he show his ID. Brandon became annoyed,
and flashed the ID, but refused to place the attached lanyard around his
neck at the officer’s request. When the officer placed his arm in Brandon’s
way, to prevent him from entering, Brandon pushed the officer’s arm and
rushed past. The officer pursued Brandon and the two argued.
Both students in these scenarios could easily be referred for expulsion
which, in Illinois, means that they could lose access to all public education
for up to two years. In fact, it is not uncommon that either student would
be arrested for the incident and charged with assault or battery. Statistics
tell us that students receiving this type of punishment are more likely to be
African-Americanmales, low-income, LGBT, or a student with a disability. The
reality is that schools throughout the country rely on harsh and exclusion-
ary discipline practices that disproportionately impact some of our most
vulnerable young people. Without access to education, these young people
are more likely to come in contact with the criminal justice system, become
victims and perpetrators of violence, or perpetuate a cycle of poverty. As
a profession of advocates, lawyers need to understand and combat school
discipline practices that shut the schoolhouse doors to our young people
who need access to it the most.
practices, such as out-of-school suspen-
sions and expulsions to address minor and
subjective misbehaviors like “insubordina-
tion” and “willful defiance.” Schools have
developed zero-tolerance policies: rules
that disregard individual circumstances
in favor of automatic, punitive measures.
There has been a greater reliance on law
enforcement and many schools began
stationing school resource officers (SRO)
in the school, a practice that has increased
in response to school shootings across
the nation. However, instead of making
schools safer, as intended, these practices
often further marginalize and criminalize
vulnerable students.
Contributing Factors
The STPP is created by a combination of
factors that exist both within the school
system and externally in the community.
Within the school system, the lack
of adequate resources and support for
students creates an environment that sets
students up to fail. Students in need of
supportive services to help them in school
are often from struggling communities and
attend the least resourced schools. These
schools endure the highest level of neglect
and destabilization, frequently dealing
with constant changes in administrators
and teachers, debilitating budget cuts, and
threats of closure and restructuring. This
makes it extremely difficult for schools to
meet the basic needs of students, let alone
the extraordinary needs of students deal-
ing with conditions of extreme poverty,
exposure to trauma and violence, or other
familial and societal stressors. Yet, in all
schools, students are expected to perform
in an increasingly high pressured and com-
petitive academic environment, regardless
of whether they have meaningful social-
emotional support.
Some of our most vulnerable students
are ultimately excluded from the school
system, either by school administrators
pushing the student out of school through
discipline processes, or the disconnected
student choosing to drop-out of school.
As may be expected, students who are
not supported become increasingly dis-
engaged in the curriculum and begin to
exhibit behaviors that are disruptive to
the learning environment. Unfortunately,
school administrators too often react with
discipline practices that are more focused
on punishment than helping young people
learn from their mistakes. Consider the use
of out-of-school suspensions; students can
be kept out of school for up to two weeks
with no educational services. When those
students return, little is done to reintegrate
them back into the school environment.
CBA RECORD
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