Report Finds Schools Needlessly Arresting Growing Number of Youth 

San Francisco Bay View 6apr2005

[Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 24mar2005]

Washington D.C. — Advancement Project, a national racial justice organization, has released its second report examining the over-use of zero tolerance school discipline policies and the growing reliance on police and juvenile courts as disciplinarians: “Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track.”

According to the report, school districts across the country have teamed up with law enforcement to create this “schoolhouse to jailhouse track” by imposing a “double dose” of punishment – suspensions or expulsions and a trip to the juvenile court – for misconduct that often does not threaten school safety.

“In school district after school district, an inflexible and unthinking zero tolerance approach to an exaggerated juvenile crime problem is derailing the educational process,” said Judith Browne, Advancement Project acting co-director. “The educational system is starting to look more like the criminal justice system. Acts once handled by a principal or a parent are now being handled by prosecutors and the police.”

“Education on Lockdown,” which focused on data from school systems in Denver, Chicago and Palm Beach County, dissects the schoolhouse to jailhouse track by examining:

• How zero tolerance, a policy originally designed to address the most serious misconduct, morphed into a “take no prisoners” approach to school discipline issues and created a direct track into the juvenile and criminal justice systems;
• The expanding role of law enforcement measures in schools; and
• The disparate impact of these practices on students of color.

The report illustrates that while national school arrest data is not available, data from various districts indicate the growing trend toward using law enforcement measures to address school disciplinary matters. For example:

• Between 2000 and 2004, Denver Public Schools experienced a 71 percent increase in the number of student referrals to law enforcement (through tickets and arrests). Last year, most of these referrals were for non-violent behavior such as use of obscenities and disruptive appearance.
• In 2003, over 8,000 students were arrested in Chicago Public Schools. More than 40 percent of these arrests were for simple assault and battery – often nothing more than a threat or harmless, weaponless fight.

“Our report finds that in the name of school safety, students are being needlessly arrested for non-violent acts,” said Monique Dixon, senior attorney, Advancement Project. “It also finds that while students of all races find themselves on the schoolhouse to jailhouse track, the arrest and referrals to juvenile court fall heaviest on students of color.”

Additionally, the following examples illustrate the extreme reaction to minor offenses that are causing a growing number of students to be derailed into the juvenile justice system.

• Philadelphia, Pa. – A 10-year-old girl was handcuffed and taken to a police station for taking a pair of scissors to school. She used the scissors to work on a school project.
• Port St. Lucie, Fla. – A 14-year-old girl was arrested and charged with battery for pouring a carton of chocolate milk on the head of a classmate.
• Wilmington, N.C. – A high school student was criminally charged by a sheriff’s deputy for cursing in front of a teacher.

Students of color are often disproportionately impacted by these zero tolerance school discipline practices. For example, last year in Denver, Black and Latino students were referred to law enforcement at twice and seven times the rates of their White peers, respectively.

“We must have safe learning environments, but these zero tolerance practices have gone too far. Youth are being treated like criminals for cursing, having a body piercing and shoving matches. Our juvenile courts should not be called upon to address behavior that could be corrected in schools,” concluded Dixon. “Schools should turn to school-based intervention and prevention programs and stop the schoolhouse to jailhouse track.”

For a copy of the report, go to www.advancementproject.org. Advancement Project (AP) is a national policy, communications and legal action organization that develops, encourages, pioneers and widely disseminates innovative ideas and models that inspire and mobilize a broad national racial justice movement to achieve universal opportunity and a just democracy. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, AP supports organized communities in their struggles for racial and social justice.

source: http://www.sfbayview.com/040605/needlesslyarresting040605.shtml 9apr2005