Is there a connection to school discipline tactics and prison?

Recently, DSVP's Philanthropy Education Committee hosted a discussion about the report "Texas' School-to-Prison Pipeline, Dropout to Incarceration: The Impact of School Discipline and Zero Tolerance" released by Texas Appleseed. The committee brought together leaders from Texas Appleseed along with North Texas educators and civic leaders to react to the research and discuss their best practices for discipline in the school. Our respondents provided thoughtful and passionate points of view based on their own experience in the schools.
Listen to the discussion!

In the report, major findings include:

• In Texas, Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs have five times the dropout rate of mainstream schools.
• Two-thirds of the students sent to DAEPs in Texas are referred at the discretion of school districts, and are not mandatory removals under state law.
• In Texas, 211 school districts disproportionately referred African American students to DAEPs for one or more years between 2001 and 2006.
• Although special education students represented 11 percent of the overall Texas public school population in 2005-2006, they accounted for 22 percent of total annual DAEP referrals, 26 percent of out-of-school suspensions, and 21 percent of ISS referrals per year.
• Fourteen Texas school districts accounted for about 85 percent of referrals of 500 pre-K and kindergarten children and about 2,700 1st graders to DAEPs between 2001 and 2006. DAEPs are restricted by Texas law for children under age six unless they are found carrying a gun to school.

Framer: Texas Appleseed's Rebecca Lightsey, Executive Director
Texas Appleseed is a nonprofit partnership of pro bono attorneys and other professionals who are focused on systemic solutions to major social problems.

Presenters: Steve Colmus, Principal, Kipp Truth Academy
Kamalia Cotton, Principal, H.S. Thompson Learning Center
Rachel George, Executive Director, Transformation Management Office, DISD
Travis Wortham, Superintendent, Cottrell Transition Center, TYC Dallas