Mississippi Schools Sending Kids To Prison For Misbehaving In The Classroom

[madmom]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/13/681261/mississippi-schools-sending-kids-to-prison-for-misbehaving-in-the-classroom/




The Department of Justice on Friday uncovered a so-called “School-to-Prison pipeline” in Mississippi, where teachers and principals are shipping off children into the criminal justice system for infractions as small as a dress code violation.

Schools in the city of Meridian, MS, have an established practice of sending students, particularly black and disabled students, to prison for minor disciplinary problems — in clear violation of the Constitution. As ABC reports, that DOJ is claiming that the schools, which protect against “abuse of government authority in legal proceedings and fairness of due process rights,” are violating the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

After months of investigation into claims of such a pipeline, the Justice Department released Friday a definitive letter revealing that the Meridian Police Department “automatically arrests all students referred to MPD by the District. The children arrested by MPD are then sent to the County juvenile justice system”:

[Trillo]

1. DUers often ask, "how can the government be so hated" or some similar phrasing....

People's substantial first contact with government seems to occur in compulsory public or private schools. At best these schools force kids to labor without compensation. At worst, they send the kids to even worse prisons.

It really isn't so hard to understand.

[Amak8]

2. No child left behind accounting gimmick.

Another Bush gift that keeps on giving.

[onethatcares]

3. the kids that are sent to the juvenile justice system

usually have to fight while they are in custody. That brings more charges and they are trapped in a circle of

either getting their asses kicked on a regular basis or standing up for themselves.

Our country is fucked with Mississippi being one of the front runners.(don't mean to offend any DU Mississippians)

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. USA.... a horrible country. And getting worse...daily.

[proverbialwisdom]

5. I read a similarly horrifying article @ truthout yesterday about Bronx schools.

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/10804-james-baldwin-lisbeth-salander-and-the-rise-of-the-police-state-in-some-childrens-schools

James Baldwin, Lisbeth Salander and the Rise of the Police State in Some Children's Schools

Thursday, 09 August 2012 12:09
By P.L. Thomas, The Daily Censored | Op-Ed

http://www.amazon.com/Police-Hallways-Discipline-Urban-School/dp/0816675538

Police in the Hallways: Discipline in an Urban High School [Paperback]
Kathleen Nolan, Paul Willis (Foreword)

Review:

"Police in the Hallways presents a detailed ethnographic analysis of the ways in which discipline policies in New York schools have influenced the education and social experience of young people in so-called impact schools. Kathleen Nolan uncovers the complexity of the issues and exposes the unfairness of the policies in a subtle yet compelling manner." —Pedro Noguera, author of The Trouble With Black Boys and Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education

"Anyone interested in education in American should definitely take this sobering journey into life in an urban high school." —Library Journal

About the Author:

Kathleen Nolan works in the Teacher Preparation Program and is a lecturer at Princeton University. She teaches seminars related to urban education.

Paul Willis is professor of sociology at Princeton University.

[WinkyDink]

6. Sung to the tune of "Tiny Bubbles": "Private prisons....."

[Tx4obama]

7. K&R n/t

[RainDog]

8. prison industry

this is repulsive.