'Pretty Much a Catastrophe': Anna Deavere Smith and the Disaster of the School-to-Prison Pipeline

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/education/pretty-much-catastrophe-anna-deavere-smith-and-disaster-school-prison-pipeline




In the last 20 years, there has been a shocking rise in the number of schools that embrace zero tolerance policies that regularly leave students suspended, expelled or arrested for the kinds of infractions that once would have meant a trip to the principal’s office. Over the same period of time, police presence in schools has increased dramatically, making it more probable that these same kids will be sucked out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system.

The students affected by these policies are disproportionately black and Latino. The education secretary, Arne Duncan, has highlighted data showing black students are three times as likely to be suspended as white ones. Multiple studies show that for students who get suspended, the likelihood of graduating high school plummets. The issue is so stark that the Obama administration has released recommendations that aim to change these discipline policies and NAACP leaders have called putting an end to zero tolerance, one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time.

Now, playwright, actress and professor Anna Deavere Smith, who has a history of tackling social issues in her one-person shows (health care in Let Me Down Easy and racial unrest after the Rodney King verdict in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992), has turned her focus to addressing the issue--specifically the school-to-prison pipeline, which funnels minority and low-income children from classroom to penitentiary at an alarming rate.

The Obie, Tony and MacArthur fellowship winner will be approaching the issue via a “Town Hall” format, presenting a staged reading of her work-in-progress, Field Notes: Doing Time In Education: The California Chapter, and then “[opening] the floor for public dialogue and engagement.” Developed in partnership with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the evening will feature material from dozens of interviews Smith has conducted with people impacted by the school-to-prison pipeline as well as the music of jazz musician Marcus Shelby. The aim? To jumpstart powerful conversations about a disturbing national trend.

[malaise]

1. It's a business

neo-slavery.

[Skittles]

2. everything is turning into a business

it's sickening

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Agreed. nt

[xchrom]

3. +2

[Live and Learn]

4. This deserves way more attention then it will ever get. k&e nt

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Agreed. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

5. I believe that art can save the world. eom

Love, Peace and Shelter. Lmsp

[avebury]

8. K&R nt

[mnhtnbb]

9. Very interesting. Would love to see this. Any SF DU'ers able to go?

[Android3.14]

10. Tough problem to solve

The teacher strategies shown at this link are typical and woefully asinine.
http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-43-spring-2013/feature/teachers-guide-rerouting-pipeline

We all learn these methods in the classroom management class(es) we take during certification. Unfortunately, they rarely work effectively, and the interruption to the classroom never ends. All too often in this debate, people scream about the disrupting child's right to an education, but never address the fact that the misbehaving student is removing the right of their classmate's to their own education.

This appears to be a good article on the factors involved in this issue and possible solutions.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/education-under-arrest/clogging-the-pipeline-can-the-schools-to-prison-pipeline-problem-be-solved/

Additionally, the virtual school system that Ernest Cline outlines in his novel, "Ready Player One", appears to be a possible solution, using functions such as "ignore" like we do here on DU.

[riderinthestorm]

11. Sounds like my kind of show. Hope it does well. Chicago is usually the jump off point

for shows like this that are looking for another market to try while they hone the show for NYC....

I'd love for it to come here.

This is an enormous problem and needs so much more public exposure. Chicago also has the schools-to-prison-pipeline on steroids and could use as many voices raised, in as many different ways, as possible.

[marmar]

12. k/r