Breaking the School to Prison Pipeline The Every Student Counts Alliance

“School to Prison Pipeline” Policies and practices that push children out of classrooms and into the juvenile justice system. Direct: Arrest by school police referral to law enforcement. Indirect: exclusionary school discipline pushout Blurring of the lines between criminal system and schools, or bleed of criminal justice tools into schools.

Impacts of Suspension and Expulsion Graduation rates Post-secondary education Test scores “Feedback loop” Culture of punishment Juvenile justice involvement Students who are suspended significantly less likely to graduate, some studies showing up to 10 times more likely to graduate Ultimately, the research all shows that what we are currently doing isn’t working.

Why now? The school to prison pipeline sits at the intersection of two major movements in social justice and the law – the first is a growing discussion about our systems of mass incarceration – we now live in a society where 1 in 3 young people will be arrested by the time they are 21. This is not because young people are more dangerous – juvenile crime peaked in 1993 and has been on a steady decline since then. But it is a reflection of our willingness to respond to juvenile misconduct with the criminal law. And, that can both begin – and end – in schools. The second conversation is about juveniles themselves – we know now more than ever that adolescent misconduct, even serious misconduct, does not reflect an intrinsic badness; juveniles are in some ways neurologically wired to engage in risky or destructive behavior, but they can be taught. And what we also know is that the

Why Spokane? Spokane has the 6th highest suspension/expulsion rate in the state. It is alone among large districts in its rates, and unique among the other districts in the Spokane Valley (West Valley 3.2, East and Central Valley are both 3.9%, right at the state average). The overall rate of suspension and expulsion in Spokane is more than double the state average. Over 3000 individual students were suspended or expelled in Spokane in 2015. Students who are suspended or expelled in Spokane tend to be disciplined multiple times, with an average of 2.3 incidents of suspension or expulsion in a single year. DATA SOURCE: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2015 Statewide Discipline Rate, measuring the overall percentage of students in that district suspended or expelled.

“Disruptive” behaviors drive suspension Together, “disruptive conduct” and “failure to cooperate” account for 48% of out of school discipline in Spokane Public Schools. DATA SOURCE: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, “Discipline Behaviors” data, sorted for Spokane Public Schools from 2015. Measuring the most serious behavior coded for each disciplinary incident leading to suspension and expulsion.

Students of color are disproportionately disciplined Students of color are disproportionately disciplined in Spokane Public Schools. 16% of American Indian students and 16% of African American students are suspended or expelled, compared to only 7.3% of white students. Lesser, but still significant, disparities impact Pacific Islander students, Latino students, and bi-racial students. DATA SOURCE: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Discipline Rates, Spokane, 2013-2015. Measuring the overall percentage of students suspended or expelled at least once during that school year.

Students with disabilities are disproportionately disciplined

Referrals to law enforcement Total unique children: 33 Average age: 14 Age range: 11-17 Number of children 11-13: 13 Number of children 14-17: 20 Total number of cases: 35 Total number of charges: 82 Total cases with multiple charges: 19 Total number of cases with single charge: 16 Average charges/case: 2.16 Total felony charges: 16 Percent felony charges: 19.5% Total misdemeanor charges: 66 Percent misdemeanor charges: 80.5%

Organizing for change Superintendent’s Resolution and Workgroup School Board Policies Student Discipline School Police Parent Education

Impacts