The School-to-Prison Pipeline and Zero Tolerance Policies

"FREE Satellite program at the Lincoln Community Center Library in Fairview, PA with JES Scholar-in-Residence Parris Baker, Ph.D.

The United States education system has a long, sordid history of racial discrimination and unjust practices towards children of color. The failure or inability of the American education system to instruct African American students specifically, has been well-chronicled (Asante, 1998). Unfortunately, the punitive and overzealous tools and approaches of the modern criminal justice system have seeped into our schools, serving to remove children from mainstream educational environments, where some students, mostly males, are funneled into a one-way path toward prison. Described as one of the most urgent challenges in our American education system (NAACP, 2005), this presentation will define The School-to-Prison Pipeline (STPP), discuss how zero-tolerance policies contribute to STPP, and provide some strategies for the abatement of STPP."