Ask a Self-Advocate: The School to Prison Pipeline

What is the School to Prison Pipeline?

The School to Prison Pipeline (STPP) is a disturbing nationwide trend in which students are pushed out of schools and into prisons, through criminalizing policies and practices that introduce youth to the criminal justice system. Due to historical racism and prejudice, the STPP disproportionately impacts students of color (SOC), students with disabilities, and especially SOC with disabilities. It is important to address the STPP in order to decrease the high incarceration rates of people of color with disabilities.

What factors contribute to the School to Prison Pipeline?

One factor is that some schools have zero tolerance policies, which results in punitive consequences for breaking rules. These policies lead to the frequent seclusion, suspension, and expulsion of SOC with disabilities, which negatively impacts the services and supports offered in those students’ Individualized Education Plan (IEPs). Additionally, school police have been disproportionately deployed in schools with high percentages of youth of color. Historically, these school resource officers (SROs) have been linked to punitive discipline practices, inappropriate restraints, and the arrest of SOC with disabilities due to racial profiling: the tendency to label SOC as aggressive, intimidating, and threatening. There is an evident pipeline between schools and prisons when police officers are hired to work in schools and arrest students.

Another factor is a lack of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools. Schools tend to focus more on the core academic learning of students (such as math or English), but SEL is just as important because student behavior is determined by social skills and emotions, which SOC with disabilities struggle with. School can be stressful for SOC with disabilities due to the stigmas associated with race and disability. Without SEL, these students find it harder to manage their feelings and succumb to a fight or flight response, such as outbursts and meltdowns or avoidance and disengagement. Even though these responses can be a manifestation of the students’ disabilities, zero-tolerance policies and SROs severely punish SOC with disabilities for behaviors that may be associated with their disability, further advancing the STPP. 

How can the School to Prison Pipeline be dismantled?

SOC with disabilities are often faced with classroom exclusion. Schools should end zero tolerance policies because they lead to disciplinary measures that push SOC with disabilities out of school. In order to keep SOC with disabilities in school, schools should use restorative justice practices, such as mediation and conflict resolution when relationships are harmed. Through restorative justice practices, students are not severely punished and removed from school, so SOC with disabilities will continue to be included and embraced in school settings, rather than being excluded, suspended, and expelled.

Also, schools should remove SROs because SROs propel SOC with disabilities into prisons. In order to prevent SOC with disabilities from becoming justice involved, schools should hire counselors and aides to address social-emotional needs. Counselors and aides will work with students to find out why they behave the way they do as a student’s behavior can be a manifestation of their disability, which they should not be punished for. Furthermore, schools must realize that Social-Emotional Learning is important for all students, especially for those with disabilities, and not punish students who struggle social-emotionally.

Jevon Okundaye is the Program Assistant for MAC’s Racial Equity and Access Project (REAP) and a former MAC Young Adult Leader Fellow. This post is a part of MAC’s “Race and Disability” webpage. Jevon is a Black autistic young man. He graduated from Tufts University in 2019 with majors in Africana Studies and English. Jevon hopes this blog can teach people about the intersectionality of race and disability. The suggestions in this blog are based on Jevon’s personal experience. He realizes that what worked for him may not work for everyone else.