ARTISTS

Fact Sheet: How Bad Is the
School-to-Prison Pipeline?
by Carla Amurao
The school-to-prison pipeline: an epidemic that is plaguing schools across the nation. Far too
often, students are suspended, expelled or even arrested for minor offenses that leave visits to
the principal’s office a thing of the past. Statistics reflect that these policies disproportionately
target students of color and those with a history of abuse, neglect, poverty or learning
disabilities.
Students who are forced out of school for disruptive behavior are usually sent back to the
origin of their angst and unhappiness—their home environments or their neighborhoods,
which are filled with negative influence. Those who are forced out for smaller offenses
become hardened, confused, embittered. Those who are unnecessarily forced out of school
become stigmatized and fall behind in their studies; many eventually decide to drop out of
school altogether, and many others commit crimes in their communities.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the school-to-prison pipeline. Many attribute
it to the zero tolerance policies that took form after the 1999 Columbine High School
massacre. Others blame educators, accusing them of pushing out students who score lower
on standardized tests in order to improve the school’s overall test scores. And some blame
overzealous policing efforts. The reasons are many, but the solutions are not as plentiful.
So how bad is the school-to-prison pipeline? See the stats for yourself, leave suggestions, find
programs in your local community, take a stance.
Facts and Statistics:
• A 2007 study by the Advancement Project and the Power U Center for Social Change says
that for every 100 students who were suspended, 15 were Black, 7.9 were American Indian,
6.8 were Latino and 4.8 were white.
• The same study reports that the U.S. spends almost $70 billion annually on incarceration,
probation and parole. This number lends itself to a 127% funding increase for incarceration
between 1987-2007. Compare that to a 21% increase in funding for higher education in the
same 20-year span.
• Based on statistics from the Civil Rights Data Collection (see sources below), in 2009,
the Los Angeles Unified School District reported the following numbers for out-of-school
suspensions: 62% Hispanic students, 33% Black students, 3% white and 2% Asian. LAUSD
also reported that of their expulsions, 67% of Hispanic students and 5% of Black students
were not offered educational services. Lastly, 77% of Hispanics and 8% of Asian, Black and
white students were expelled under zero tolerance policies.
• The CRDC also shows that in 2009, the West Valley School District in Spokane, WA
expelled 20% Black students and 60% white students and offered no educational services.
Of those who were expelled, 10% Black students and 60% white students were done so
under zero tolerance policies. Those who were referred to law enforcement included 10%
Black students and 80% white students. However, Spokane school districts reported a
higher number of enrolled white students. West Valley School district consisted of 86%
white students and 4% Black students.
• In St. Louis, MO schools, the Normandy School District’s 98% Black student population
ON THE ISSUES
NOTES FROM THE FIELD EDUCATIONAL TOOLKIT
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