Breaking Schools Rules Essay

According to a 2011 statewide study called “Breaking Schools’ Rules,” by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, students in Texas public schools who are suspended or expelled for a discretionary violation are three times more likely to be in contact with the juvenile justice system the following year. Moreover, the study found that African American students were disproportionately more likely to be disciplined in comparison to their counterparts. The report found that eighty-three percent of African American male students had received at least one discretionary violation in comparison to seventy percent of Hispanic male students and fifty-nine percent of white male students (Council of State Governments Justice Center).
Though “Breaking Schools’ Rules” describes the relationship between school discipline and juvenile justice involvement specifically in Texas public schools, it’s findings are valuable because they analyze millions of school records and juvenile justice records from the second largest public school system in the United States spanning over six years. The findings of this study do not only reveal the relationship between school discipline and the juvenile justice system; they also bring to light factors such as race and class that make certain demographics of students more susceptible to …show more content…
Further, I will argue that the United States school-to-prison pipeline is a pervasive system used in conjunction with the incarceration system, to inadvertently maintain racial and socio-economic inequality. Accordingly, in order to reverse the flow of students into the criminal justice system, grassroots campaigns should mobilize across local school districts to pressure school boards and local governments as well as the federal government to reform school