Where Perpendicular Paths Become Parallel: On Restorative Practices in K-12 Education
I was suspended once, in the 8th grade. To be fair, the details are almost as ordinary as they come: I, a straight-A student, got into a fight in the school cafeteria with another young Black girl who had made it her mission to antagonize me. She swung, I swung, and we both got suspended: I, for one day, and she, for two weeks. While school administrators had elected to give me a generic misconduct infraction, hardly even a blip on my disciplinary record, they decided to give her a more severe violence & insubordination infraction. In reflecting on my own K-12 experiences, I often re-visit this memory, as it could have been a critical shift in the trajectory of my education and, by extension, my life. But I’ll return to this anecdote later.
Not All K-12 Experiences Are Created Equally
In early 2019, Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education under the Trump administration) proposed an $8.5 billion budget cut from the Department of Education. The proposed budget cut would subsequently reduce funding for low-income students’ after-school activities, in addition to compromising funding for books, safety equipment, and mental health counseling services. The audacity of DeVos’s proposal struck many educators, parents, and policy makers as an inexcusable step in the wrong direction, particularly given the existing struggles in properly serving K-12 students. Further, the students to be most affected by these cuts would be the same students who were already being tragically underserved — namely, low-income students of color.
With vastly disparate access to funding, schools (and students) therefore find themselves fighting an uphill battle for quality education. Not unlike many other disparities in the United States, race is a critical factor. In 2012, research from the Center for American Progress found that schools with 90% or more students of color spent nearly $750 dollars less per student (per year) than schools with similar ratios of White students. Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights also revealed a disturbing pattern in access to effective teachers: Black students, on average, were more often located in schools with less qualified and lower paid teachers, many of whom were novice in training. Given this data, it should come as no surprise, then, that Black American students have consistently been at a disadvantage in college readiness — a benchmark that is largely related to standardized test scores, college and career counseling, and GPA.
Of course, the importance of education notwithstanding, disparities in K-12 education have further reaching implications than just the absence of college-readiness. Perhaps most troublesome about the failures of K-12 schooling in serving minority students, particularly those of Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Native American descent, is its relationship to the ever-growing prison industrial complex, and the failed justice system that precedes it. This relationship is conventionally referred to as the “school-to-prison pipeline”.
The School-to-Prison Pipeline
The so-called school-to-prison pipeline (SPP) — a process by which Black and Brown students, in particular, are treated with excessive punitiveness vis a vis disciplinary policies and informal practices — animates a great deal of racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to the criminal justice system, particularly for Black students. The statistics remain bleak: incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of White Americans, Black Americans make up 34% of the total correctional population. Similarly, Black children, as compared to White children, are disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system. Representing close to 32% of all children arrested, Black children comprise 52% of children whose cases are subsequently sent to criminal court.
So far, I’ve defined the school-to-prison pipeline in terms of cold statistics, but how does this phenomenon truly function on the ground? There are a few factors that contribute to this phenomenon. For instance,
· ‘Trouble-maker’ labeling and criminalization of children and young adults
· Overzealous use of detention, suspension, and expulsion as means of achieving rehabilitation
· Harassment, public shaming, and name-calling
· Selective enforcement of ‘zero-tolerance’ policies
These factors, among others, explain why Black students are three times more likely to be suspended than White peers; why Black public school students constitute more one-third of all in- and out-of-school suspensions; and why Black students are 2.6 times more likely to be suspended multiple times. Among students with disabilities, an especially vulnerable population in the school system, more than 25% of boys of color and close to 20% of girls of color receive out-of-school suspension. Comparatively, White students with disabilities and behavioral issues are more often treated with medicine. Above all, these figures reveal an overall failure of empathy and pedagogical integrity in our schools.
Black Girls and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Language surrounding the SPP often centers the experience of boys of color, partially due to Black and Latino males’ disproportionate representation in the prison system. However, an important demographic that is worthy of its own consideration is that of Black girls — one of the fastest growing groups of young adults being “pushed out” of K-12 and into the criminal justice system.
Nationally, Black girls are six times more likely to be suspended than White girls. In comparison, the comparable statistic for Black and White boys is 3:1. Compared to nearly 40% of Black boys, Black girls also comprise 50.7% of girls with multiple out-of-school suspensions. In regards to more punitive outcomes, Black girls are 42% of girls expelled, and over one-third of girls arrested at school. Importantly, the severity of these statistics continue to grow over time — between 2002 and 2006, per-district suspension rates for Black girls increased by about 5%, as compared to close to 2% for Black boys, as one example.
Of course, a comparison to the plight of young Black boys is hardly necessary to demonstrate that there is a profound cause for concern. However, it is of paramount importance to recognize struggles that especially affect Black girls and young women in order to craft informed interventions. Numerous (and recent) headlines have discussed policing of Black girls’ bodies, right down to the braids in their hair and the fit of their clothing. Fewer headlines pay attention to Black girls’ disproportionate experiences of sexual harassment, assault, and trauma. Fewer still are careful considerations of how Black girls’ attempts to protect themselves from hyper-sexualization and racist characterizations are coded as insubordination. Instead, discourse typically centers rising rates of teen pregnancy and the supposedly intrinsic volatility of these young girls and women. When it comes to the school-to-prison pipeline, Black girls undeniably experience a unique form of societal failure — an especially potent cocktail of racism, sexism, ignorance, and indifference.
It is not enough to react, we must reimagine.
For tomorrow, things must change yesterday. We cannot just sit idly and uncomfortably with these statistics. Rather, it is essential that teachers, policy makers, and government officials act with a sense of urgency and proactiveness. Where do we start on such a nuanced, socially- and historically- grounded issue? When the data in this piece do not even scratch the surface of illustrating the extent of the issue, which angle do we attack first? Well, the revolution happens on many fronts. Given the burgeoning body of research on restorative justice approaches in K-12, administrators and policy makers are uniquely poised to use more empathic, research-based techniques for organizing their classrooms. Here are some tangible goals we might strive for:
· Aim for reform and rehabilitation, rather than retaliation and retribution. If the purpose of education is to mold and nurture a still-developing mind, to what end do we isolate and remove students from the classroom community? Empirical data shows that students who experience more punitive forms of discipline are at greater risk of future delinquency and are more likely to fail or drop out of school. Suspension and expulsion, even under some of the most extreme circumstances, should therefore be summarily replaced with more rehabilitative and stimulating approaches such as ( a ) meetings with a school counselor wherein students can express themselves and accept responsibility for their actions, ( b ) mandatory class attendance accompanied by one-on-one peer- or student-led tutoring, or even ( c ) temporary placement in a more advanced course, for students whose misbehavior is a misplaced manifestation of boredom.
· Eliminate public shaming and harassment of students from school faculty. It is simply inexcusable to treat children, let alone other people’s children, with disrespect and resentment. Schools should be proactive in making sure that all faculty are meeting their students with empathy and respect — especially those students who are struggling academically or interpersonally. Further alienating students who already struggle with the existing, unsupportive academic environment agitates education disparities (e.g., increasing drop-out rates) and compromises students’ institutional trust. More empathic approaches encourage a sense of belonging and community, creating room for students to thrive in their academic environments. Let’s start with the basics: use students’ first names and treat them firmly but with kindness.
· Rethink zero-tolerance policies, prioritizing the academic and social growth of the student. A punished child does not a disciplined or educated child make. If the implication of zero-tolerance policies is to remove students from their academic environment — some of whom rely on school for food and safety — then the policy is summarily ineffective. Further, zero-tolerance policies, much like mandatory minimums, disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority students, yet operate under the guise of fairness. In that sense, zero-tolerance policies are a lazy and racist approach to enforcing order with no proof of efficacy in deterring students’ misbehavior.
Aside from zero-tolerance policies’ incompatibility with good-faith pedagogy, they also compromise the well-being of students at or below the poverty line. Many low-income students rely on school for food and safety; and sending a child home for such infractions as uniform noncompliance will not make uniform money materialize in either the student or guardians’ pockets. It is prudent to assume that zero-tolerance policies can not only be rethought, but eradicated altogether. Prioritizing the academic and social growth of students above the convenience of student extraction is the worthwhile pursuit.
· Make mental health and counseling resources readily available to students and faculty alike. Low-income schools with predominately Black and Brown students are frequently the least likely to receive funding for mental health counseling services, despite serving students who are most likely to be suffering from stress and trauma. Teachers in these environments, outside of the financial stressors of working in an under-resourced school, therefore must cope with the emotional burdens of these students, in addition to their own personal troubles and lesson plans. To that end, schools, aside from being a space for academic learning, should offer teachers and students resources for healing — and where these resources already exist, they should be fiercely protected. As one example, in order to maximize the efficacy of instruction, students and faculty should have a space to talk to a trained, trusted adult. The concept is also not unheard of, as even psychologists and psychiatrists are required to meet with a counselor throughout their practice. How can teachers help students if they are not addressing their own mental health? Similarly, how can students process their lessons if they have no space to constructively and openly share their emotions? Teachers and students are truly our future. We need to take the steps to set them up for success, which includes promoting their mental health and wellness through a culture of emotional intelligence.
Finally, defund police in schools. Then, remove them. Without adequate resources to support the intellectual or emotional development of students, school districts cannot afford to invest in on-campus policing. It just doesn’t compute.
Where perpendicular paths become parallel.
We do not have to sit in idle contentment with harmful norms that are familiar and therefore comfortable. We can use research-driven approaches to dismantle our ineffective systems and rebuild ones that are equipped to create a brighter, more equitable tomorrow. Children, quite literally, are the future. But they are still developing, and still learning from the world around them. The question then becomes, what exactly are we teaching them about themselves? About the world? About their future? We must always lead by example.
In case you were wondering, I won the fight that day. And she lost — in more ways than either of us even knew. What separated us, and there wasn’t much that did, was simple: she fit the profile, and I fit the quota. With age, of course, I came to understand this more clearly.
Having her on my spirit and wondering what had become of her, I searched her name years later. Her face much the same, I instantly recognized her from her mugshots. A conflicted sadness fell over me, and I set my computer down.
I searched her name again today, and a search result that I hadn’t seen before popped up, buried in the 3rd or 4th Google ‘o’. It was a post on an algebra help forum where she solicited online help in understanding the Pythagorean theorem. She was in 7th grade, she said, and her final exam was the upcoming Friday. Their reply was “her only hope”, as she simply did not understand her teacher’s lesson.
No more than a year later, she and I met in the middle school cafeteria. She swung, I swung. Only one of us got hit.
References and Recommended Reading
African American Policy Forum. (2014, December 30). Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out,Overpoliced and Underprotected. Retrieved from http://aapf.org/recent/2014/12/coming-soon-blackgirlsmatter-pushed-out-overpoliced-and-underprotected
Battistich, V., & Hom, A. (1997). The relationship between students’ sense of their schools as acommunity and their involvement in problem behavior. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1997–2001.
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Cole, Nicki L. (2019, January 25). Understanding the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/school-to-prison-pipeline-4136170
Cook, L. (2015, January 28). U.S. Education: Still Separate and Unequal. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/28/us-education-still-separate and-unequal
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