The study found that poor kids were arrested nearly 23 times more often than their wealthy peers.
If you’re a poor, black, and disabled student, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll be suspended, expelled, or arrested, especially if you live in an urban area.
A new study by Connecticut Voices for Children found that while student arrests and expulsions have declined across the state, there are still high numbers of poor students, minorities, and students with disabilities being arrested or expelled.
What's most alarming, the study found, is that poor kids were arrested nearly 23 times more often than their wealthy peers.
While these numbers are alarming, there were fewer arrests in the poorest communities in 2013 than there were in 2011. However, arrests in wealthy areas have been cut in half, while arrests in other places have declined at a much slower pace.
Schools, police, and others should develop a uniform way of handling behaviors, according to the study.
“If we believe educational attainment can be the means by which children from less privileged backgrounds catch up with their more advantaged peers, we must pay attention to the way that school disciplinary tactics exacerbate already existing disparities,” the study’s authors wrote.
In many places across Connecticut, the situation has improved since 2011, but not in all places. Waterbury, East Hartford, Bristol, Trumbull, and Putnam are among some places where arrests have increased.
The study focused on what’s called “exclusionary discipline practices,” more commonly known as “zero-tolerance policies.”
From the study:
Moreover, excluding children from school results in significant educational and social costs. Policies that push children out of the classroom can result in considerable long-term harm. Students arrested, expelled, and suspended from school can face a host of negative life outcomes, including increased likelihood of dropping out of school and/or entering the juvenile justice system. These children are more likely to be incarcerated as adults, are more likely to rely on state-funded social programs, and have, on average, lower lifetime earnings.
Zero-tolerance policies have a tradition of failure, according to Edie Joseph, a fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children.
"In fact the term ‘zero-tolerance policy’ was first used in the context of the drug wars in the '80s and '90s, so it does have a deep-rooted history in race and in class,” Joseph said during a media conference call on Thursday.
The study didn’t dive into the cultural obstacles that created a climate wherein arrests and expulsions are so disproportionate among various socioeconomic groups. The study did, however, mention a few schools that have made strides toward closing this gap.
Several programs, such as the Right Response Network and the school-based diversion initiative, have seen arrests and expulsions decline in many of their host cities and towns. Manchester, Bridgeport, Southington, New Haven, and Norwich saw declines in suspensions, expulsions, and arrests from 2011 to 2013.
These programs aim to convert schools from a zero-tolerance model to a comprehensive system of discipline that involves not only the schools, but parents, the police, and the broader community.
"School principals, educators -- they can all take the lead in working to address this issue of school climate and exclusionary school discipline practices,” Joseph said.
The study recommends schools, police, and others develop a memorandum of understanding to discuss handling specific behaviors in a uniform way. The authors also suggests that police and educators are trained by the state’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee to improve their understanding of adolescent behavior and to help them build relationships with students.
Preventative strategies, such as teaching conflict resolution to students, providing opportunities for students who are removed from school, and expanding access to mental health services were also suggested to help improve outcomes across the state.
