Now that we are more knowledgeable about institutional racism, unconscious bias, stereotypes and microagressions we want to dive deeper into how systems work to perpetuate racism and how marginalized people struggle against it.

During the 1980’s and becoming commonplace in the 1990’s schools across the United States began adopting zero tolerence policies towards student behavior. Increasingly, schools looked to in-school police officers and out of school suspension as ways to curb dangerous, disruptive or undesirable behavior. Instead of punative justice as a last resort, in some schools, it has become the only resort. These practices disproportionatley effect Black and Brown students.

When you read that paragraph did you think of pre-schoolers?

In the school year 2017-18, 2,822 pre-schoolers received one or more out-of-school suspensions. Of those, Black pre-schoolers made up 18.2% of enrollment but accounted for 43.3% of suspensions. And Black pre-school students were expelled at rates that were more than twice (38.2%) their share (18.2%) that of total enrollement.

There is a growing body of work that shows successful implementation of other restorative justice practices that benefit the health, wellness and potential success of all students. Measures like quiet rooms, decreased class sizes, increased presences of counselors and mental health care.Many of our local schools now provide access to things that help ensure students have access to basic needs, like food, clothing and even laundry service. These supports can help address outside school factors that increase student sucess.

Today’s challenge is one of the longest of this series, and it’s why we saved it for a Friday. Thank you for sticking with us throughout the challenege and continuing your commitment to equity.

Definitions

Zero Tolerence Policy: students who break certain school rules face mandatory penalties, including suspension and referral to law enforcement.

School-to-Prison Pipeline: the practice of pushing students out of school and into the criminal justice system

Restorative Justice: an alternative to using punishment-based approaches to school discipline and behavior management in K-12 classrooms. It focuses on repairing harm through inclusive processes that bring together students and educators.