Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2017 V47 No. 1 | Page 25

hats and perform a variety of tasks .
These local heroes are granted “ in loco parentis ,” allowing teachers and educational arenas the legal responsibility to take on crucial functions and responsibilities that rival what is expected of their very own families ( Stuart , 2010 ). Under the color of this authority , schools become teachers , nurses , counselors , hygiene experts , social service workers , cheerleaders , disciplinarians , parents and above all , protectors . Their courage has been on national display from Sandy Hook to San Bernardino , where unarmed teachers have used their bodies as human shields , willingly exchanging their life for a child ’ s existence ( Hoory , 2017 ).
The blood and tears that drip from the pipeline leading from schools to prisons does not come from the palms of teachers ; it is the result of policy .
Strategically tucked into the northern corner of Palm Springs , Calif ., I grew up in a historically all-black “ hood .” From the early to mid- ’ 80s through the mid- ’ 90s , I had a bird ’ s eye view of a neighborhood overrun by the crack cocaine epidemic that decimated families , crippled my community and incarcerated fathers .
The bipartisan culprits responsible for the manhunt of these addicts include Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton , and “ zero tolerance ” crime bills ( Nunn , 2002 ). As a young adult , such policies yielded greater penalties to my young “ brothers ” in possession of $ 80 worth of crack cocaine ( equivalent to four small “ rocks ”) in comparison to the lighter skinned guy sitting on 2.2 pounds of powder cocaine ; the very ingredient used to mass produce more than 3,500 “ rocks .” Yeah .
Such zero tolerance policies borne during the Reagan and Clinton eras have much to do with the 500 percent increase in our prison population ( Mauer , 2007 ). This makes more sense when reviewing the prison population from 1920 to 1980 . During those six decades , the prison population never exceeded 300,000 inmates ; today , we have 2.3 million behind steel walls ( Stevenson , 2011 ). Ironically , from 1990 to 2010 , violent crimes were the lowest they ’ ve been in 20 years . So , why is there a negative correlation between rapid increases in incarceration rates and a steady reduction in violent crimes
On average , one of every three hope-filled African American male students will find their way to prison at some point in their life . Nearly one in two will not
graduate from high school .
throughout the country ? Policy !
Public schools succumbed to the political push to criminalize everything and became a contributing element to the Prison Industrial Complex ( Sudbury , 2014 ). To reverse trends and the focus on criminalization , educators will need to operate as educational sanctuaries that keep kids in school , police off their campuses and tackle the unconscious biases that plague us all .
Pleasing to the eyes of America ’ s private sector community is the half-trillion-plus dollar price tag attached to public education . Many imposturous pseudonyms have been proposed to weaken the greatest public good : vouchers , charter schools , schools of choice , magnets , etc . Let this not diminish the efforts of educators serving as difference makers , whose efforts are dictated by policy and demands outside of their purview . With that being said , public schools that present and promote discriminatory entrance practices with the purpose of excluding students must be admonished .
Failed practices of promoting diversity in voucher school communities are not obscure to policymakers . Voucher systems in Sweden , Chile , the Netherlands and countries across the globe have greatly contributed to school segregation ( Kahlenberg , 2016 ). A Brookings Institution study concluded that U . S . charter schools are more racially segregated and socio-economically segregated than public schools in surrounding areas ( Whitehurst , Reeves and Rodrigue , 2016 ).
Of the 1,000 charter schools observed by the American Civil Liberties Union , 253 ( 25 percent ) were flagged for discriminatory practices . And in the state of California , where the percentage of white students meeting or exceeding test standards is more than double that of black students , 64 percent to 31 percent respectively on English language arts tests , and 44 percent to 18 percent on math tests ( CAASPP ), such practices exponentially contribute to the schoolto-prison pipeline .
Grassroots efforts to effect necessary changes to eradicate the pipeline are evident in California ’ s Assembly Bill 1729 , restorative justice movements , increased research , youth courts , advocacy groups , and more . As grassroots efforts inspire research and sound research backs policy proposals , the possibilities become limitless . As the call for social justice grows louder , only the collaborative efforts in our federal venues will ensure opportunities across racial , regional and economic boundaries . Suggestions for federal mandates include :
• Cultural competence training and unconscious bias training required for all staff ( administration , certificated and classified staff ).
• Notify parents of every referral and suspension ( in school or out ).
• Eliminate all suspensions that do not address acts of violence or illicit drugs .
• Require parents or advocates to be present when the questioning of children is clearly leading to the filing of criminal charges .
• Clarification of statutes that refer students to law enforcement agencies .
• Compulsory attendance mandates for students up to 18 years of age .
With a simple stroke of the pen and a redistribution of the $ 80.7 billion annually allocated to disproportionately shackle the disenfranchised kids of color and poverty , education could once again shut some of the doors that lead many of our kids to contemporary slave plantations , our American prisons ( Wagner and Rabuy , 2017 ).
Resources
• Anderson , J . C . ( 2013 , April 10 ). “ Black Graduation Rates May Depend On ‘ Grit ’ As Much As Grades , Study Shows .” Retrieved May 3 , 2017 , from www . huffington-
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