The Disadvantage Of School-To-Prison Pipeline In Public Schools

The school-to-prison pipeline is ominous trend in the United States that pushes students out of school and into the juvenile justice system. Students at a disadvantage, such as children with learning disabilities or those faced with poverty, abuse, or neglect are the majority of students funneled through this pipeline. The pipeline is the result of schools failing to identify students in need to extra academic or social assistance. The resulting mass incarceration creates a vicious cycle for students that can be impossible to escape from. Inadequate resources in public schools are generally the onset of the school-to-prison pipeline. Low teacher to student ratios, underqualified instructors, and lack of funding are all factors that give students the disadvantage in these situations and they’re educational needs are not met. This undoubtedly leads to students dropping out and falling through the cracks in their courses, increasing their risks for ending up in the court systems. The No Child Left Behind Act

The Supportive School Discipline Initiative is a collaborative project between the Department of Justice and the Department of Education that will address the school-to-prison pipeline. The initiative’s goal is to support good discipline practices to foster safe and productive learning environments in every classroom by building consensus for action among federal, state, and local education and justice stakeholders, collaborating on research and data collection that may be needed to inform this work, developing guidance to ensure that school discipline policies and practices comply with the nation’s civil rights laws and to promote positive disciplinary options, and promoting awareness and knowledge about evidence-based and promising policies and practices among state judicial and education