Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline Paperback - 2012

From the rear cover

The "school-to-prison pipeline," a fast-growing and alarming development, comprises a range of circumstances whereby "children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems." Scholars, educators, parents, students, and organizers across the country have pointed to this shocking trend, insisting that it be identified and understood--and that it be addressed as an urgent matter by the larger community.

This new volume from the Harvard Educational Review features essays from scholars, educators, students, and community activists who are working to disrupt, reverse, and redirect the pipeline. Alongside these authors are contributions from the people most affected: youth and adults who have been incarcerated, or whose lives have been shaped by the school-to-prison pipeline. Their writings add to the book's comprehensive portrait of how our education and justice systems function--and how they fail to serve the interests of many young people.

A trenchant and wide-ranging look at this alarming national trend, Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline is unsparing in its account of the problem while pointing in the direction of meaningful and much-needed reforms.

"The national crisis posed by the school-to-prison pipeline calls on us to go beyond conventional policy, funding, leadership, and action. As this book clearly shows, disrupting the pipeline from end to end will require a complete reorientation of our values, systems, and practices, so as to construct new educational rights and opportunities for young people." -- Maisie Chin, executive director/cofounder, Community Asset Development Redefining Education (CADRE)

"In an era dominated by a focus on academic accountability, it is critical to understand that academic engagement and school discipline cannot be disentangled. Punitive and exclusionary practices in our schools and juvenile justice system threaten the life chances of too many American children and youth, especially those who have been historically marginalized. This book shines a light on the threats posed by the school-to-prison pipeline, the experiences of those who have been its victims, and strategies for disrupting and deconstructing that pipeline." -- Russ Skiba, director, The Equity Project, Indiana University

Contributors include Starcia Ague, Kathy Boudin, Kathleen B. Boundy, Joseph Cambone, Seth G. Cooper, Christopher Dankovich, Bobby Dean Evans, Jr., Jane Hereth, Mariame Kaba, Joanne Karger, Paul Kuttner, Daniel J. Losen, Kavitha Mediratta, Erica R. Meiners, Pedro A. Noguera, Douglas W. Price, Elizabeth A. Reid, David H. Rose, Derek R. Russel, Michael Satterfield, Peter Sipe, Sabina E. Vaught, Alejandro G. Vera, Lewis Wallace, and Robert Wilson.

Edited by Sofa Bahena, North Cooc, Rachel Currie-Rubin, Paul Kuttner, and Monica Ng