EDUCATION UNDER ARREST: - Justice Policy Institute

EDUCATION UNDER ARREST 21PART VISOME STUDENTS AREAFFECTED BY SROS MORETHAN OTHERSStudents of color and students with disabilities are the most likely to be affectedby harsh disciplinary policies and the school resource officers that go with them.The concentrated impact of punitive policies on these groups of youth alsocontributes to the numbers of youth of color and youth with special needs in thejuvenile justice system.Youth of colorNo data exists showing that SROs arrest youth ofcolor more often than white students, but otherdata shows that youth of color aredisproportionately arrested compared to whiteyouth. 74 In school, youth of color are far morelikely to be subjected to harsh punishments inschool than whites. A study from the AppliedResearch Center shows that African Americanstudents are disciplined more often and moreharshly than white students. 75 Related tosuspensions, a 1998 study from the Departmentof Education Office for Civil Rights shows thatAfrican American and Hispanic students aresuspended from schools at disproportionaterates compared to white students. 76In addition to these national statistics related todisproportionate punishment generally, schooldistrict-level analyses by the AdvancementProject show overwhelming disproportionalitiesrelated to arrests: 77• In 2001, the Pinellas County (Florida)School District Police made 146 arrests, ofwhich 54 percent were of black students.Comparatively, 19 percent of the District’senrollment is black.• In South Carolina, black students aremore likely to be referred to lawenforcement than their white peers. Blackstudents make up 42 percent of studentenrollment, but 75 percent of disorderlyconduct charges, of which 90 percent arereferred to law enforcement.• In the 2001 – 2002 school year, Latinostudents were 22 percent of studentenrollment, but 34 percent of referrals tolaw enforcement agencies in Colorado.• A study by the ACLU of Connecticutfound that in East Hartford in the 2006-07school year, African American andHispanic students together accounted for69 percent of the student population, but85 percent of school-based arrests. In WestHartford, African American and Hispanicstudents were 24 percent of the studentpopulation, but 63 percent of arrests. 78