Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
Advancement Project works to end harsh and unfair school disciplinary measures that push children off of an academic track and on to a track to prison.
Across the country, school systems are shutting the doors of academic opportunity on students and funneling them into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The combination of overly harsh school policies and an increased role of law enforcement in schools has created a “schoolhouse-to-jailhouse track,” in which punitive measures such as suspensions, expulsions, and school-based arrests are increasingly used to deal with student misbehavior, and huge numbers of youth are pushed out of school and into prisons and jails. In many communities, this transforms schools from places of learning to dangerous gateways into juvenile court. This is more than an education crisis; it is a racial justice crisis, because the students pushed out through harsh discipline are disproportionately students of color.
CONTACT
Education Staff Experts:
Judith Browne-Dianis, jbrowne@advancementproject.org
Jim Freeman, jfreeman@advancementproject.org
Alexi Nunn, anunn@advancementproject.org
