School-to-Prison Pipeline

In New York, students miss days or weeks in school when they are suspended, thus depriving them of valuable instruction and causing them to become disconnected from their education. Harsh punishments in school can have the effect of pushing students out of school and into the criminal legal system. Statewide, these punishments disproportionately impact students of color. As part of the Solutions not Suspensions Coalition, we are advocating to limit the maximum length of suspensions in New York State, to end suspensions for the youngest children, and to incorporate restorative approaches to discipline. Working with the Campaign for Effective Behavioral Supports for Students, we are attempting to reduce the punitive and restrictive behavioral and discipline policies that negatively affect students in New York City, and we are advocating for behavioral support systems and policies in schools that are grounded in evidence-based practices such as trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches. When the young people we serve are incarcerated, we fight to ensure that they receive access to full and appropriate educational services and that their educational rights are in all other ways preserved.