- At least 73% of individuals who drop out of school are arrested within 5 years of doing so. 
- 70% of prison inmates have not completed high school.
- 75% of minors sentenced to adult prisons have not completed the 10th grade. 
- In the juvenile justice system, 70% have been identified as having learning disabilities, and 33% have a reading level below 4th grade. 
- 68% of juveniles placed in prison systems are people of color. 

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Students of color with disabilities are disproportionately more likely to end up in the American prison system. 

The School-to-Prison Pipeline

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, “Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities” by Catherine E. Lhamon, July 2019, https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/2019/07-23-Beyond-Suspensions.pdf


Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities

Zero tolerance discipline policies focus on punitive measures against disruptive or violent student misbehavior through methods like suspension or expulsion, rather than using preventive measures to correct behavioral infractions.  

Zero Tolerance Policy

Suspensions, Disability, and the American Prison System

High-poverty schools and schools where at least half of the student population are non-white have the highest percentage of police presence on campus. Students who attend schools with at least one dedicated officer on campus are 5 times more likely to receive criminal charges for “disorderly conduct.” There is little evidence to suggest that police presence on campus reduces school violence.

Police Presence in Schools

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS), Restorative Justice, and teacher training programs are all seen as viable alternatives to the zero tolerance policy.

Learn Before

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