John Lash

Assessing the Cradle-To-School-To-Prison Pipeline

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For some time I have read about the “school to prison pipeline,” an idea that links zero tolerance policies, school policing, disproportionate minority contact with disciplinary processes, and other factors to the increased incarceration of minority youth. The basic idea is that the system formed by these practices and structures contributes to putting more kids in prison. Lately, I have come across a similar term, the cradle to prison pipeline. This is the phrase trademarked by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). It is daunting to consider that societal structures and policies can have such an affect on a newborn.

David Domenici

David Domenici: Educators Can and Should Break the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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Speaking at the New Schools - Aspen Institute Summit 2012 last week, David Domenici challenged educators to embrace troubled (and often challenging) students and to keep them in school, instead of calling the police. (watch David's short talk at the 29:45 mark)

He listed 4 focus areas:

Teach inside the fence: many of the schools in juvenile jails need compassionate and well-equipped teachers to work with teens, many of whom are under-educated and special needs. Increase technology and capacity inside jails: computer labs and classes are often crowded and ill-equipped to handle students who want to learn. Decrease use of police inside schools: save police calls for situations that pose real threats to safety and that are criminal in nature. Educators and counselors should engage with disruptive students and try to find a solution that keeps them in school.

The Best of JJIE in 2011

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This holiday season, before you are reach for the eggnog, after you rip open the presents, when you’ve finished gearing up for visits from the family and friends, take a few minutes to look over some of the best work JJIE has generated this year. Starting tomorrow and continuing throughout the week we are posting compelling pieces that ran in 2011. These stories are rich with details about some of the most important issues dealing with youth today, from homelessness, to drug abuse, to sexuality, to juvenile crime. They are a sampling of our best work; which means they are not only well written, they get to the heart of what we do here at the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. They, in short, are stories of young people and the challenges, heartbreaks and joys they face every day.

Judge Teske Gives Voice to Juvenile Justice Reforms on National Stage

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Regular JJIE contributor Judge Steve Teske was recently featured in The Washington Post for his crusade to end the school-to-prison-pipeline. The Post examines how Teske’s work to reduce schools’ referrals to juvenile court has gained a national audience.

Teske says zero tolerance policies have resulted in too many kids entering the juvenile justice system. In Teske’s opinion, “zero tolerance often means overpunishment for low-level misdeeds,” according to The Post. Because of that, he helped bring reforms to his home community of Clayton County, Ga., where Teske is chief juvenile judge. Since implementing the changes, juvenile crime has dropped, recidivism is down and graduation rates are up.

Teske, the story says, remains tough on crimes involving guns and drugs.

“The cases we have in court now are the burglars, the robbers — the kids who scare you, not the kids who make you mad,” Teske told The Post.

As Teske travels the country speaking about the need for reform, the success of Clayton County, The Post notes, is now inspiring communities in Connecticut, Indiana and Kansas, among others, to implement similar reforms.

And Teske is quick to point out his own teenage lapse in judgment, a school prank that today would have landed him in juvenile court. At 13, he pulled his school's fire alarm but his principal insisted the school handle Teske's punishment.

“Would I even be a judge today had I gone to jail that day?” he asked in The Post.

Benjamin Chambers On the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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How do you reduce the number of kids going into the juvenile justice system? Overhaul school disciplinary policies. Here's a quick overview of research on the problem, a great video that puts a human face on the issue in Connecticut, and some things you can do. Just yesterday, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement. The report is based on a groundbreaking study of nearly 1 million secondary school students in Texas.

Men Wanted: Community Organization Seeks Male Applicants for Education Training Program

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The official application cycle has closed, but a Gwinnett County-based community organization that focuses primarily on education issues is seeking more male applicants for its upcoming community training program. The Gwinnett Parent Coalition to dismantle the school-to-prison-pipeline (aka Gwinnett STOPP) has received an overwhelming response from female applicants, but organizers say they’re holding out for more men to sign up this month. The school-to-prison-pipeline is a national trend wherein some advocates say children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. JJIE.org’s Chandra R. Thomas spoke to co-chairwoman Marlyn Tillman about the Parent Leadership Institute, which officially kicks off next month. JJIE: What is Gwinnett STOPP? TILLMAN: We are a parent-led organization; we’re a volunteer organization that was formed in 2007.