The ACLU Racial Justice Project, along with the Mississippi affiliate has developed a statewide report on school to prison pipeline issues that have garnered national attention. Missing the Mark: Alternative Schools in the State of Mississippi is the first report to classify alternative schools as ‘dumping grounds' for troubled students and since its February release, has already led to some reform efforts.
Missing the Mark has already led to new state policy mandating school districts to provide annual reports to the state department of education. The report exposed the way that many school districts have been warehousing students at the alternative schools once they have been expelled from their home school. There's rarely counseling and/or educational services provided to these students that addresses the reasons that they ended up there in the first place. Very few programs exist that will enable them to transition back to their home school at their same grade level. One of the major highlights of this report is that most students who attend the alternative school are not there because of serious offenses, involving drugs or weapons, they are there because of multiple disciplinary referrals, that could mean being tardy or talking too much in class. Not surprisingly, the majority of students in alternative schools are African American males and many have special needs.
In addition to clear findings, the report makes specific recommendations for improving Mississippi's alternative schools system. In 2009, the Mississippi legislature codified the reports' recommendation to mandate annual reporting for alternative schools.