The ACLU Racial Justice Project, along with the Mississippi affiliate have developed two statewide reports on school to prison pipeline issues that have garnered national attention. A Violent Education: Corporal Punishment and Children in U.S. Public Schools exposed the extreme human rights violations caused by the paddling of children in public schools in Mississippi and Texas. 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.
The ACLU of MS is hoping that these reports will lead to the systemic reform of disciplinary procedures within the public schools in Mississippi. 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.
This was also one of the findings in A Violent Education. African American males and students with special needs represented the highest categories of students being paddled. Mississippi is one of very few states that still allow corporal punishment in schools. Most states got rid of the paddle after research showed that its an ineffective disciplinary tool. The ACLU is joining education groups throughout the state who have called for the establishment of Positive Behavior Intervention Services (PBIS) in schools. These programs focus on rewarding positive behavior instead of only focusing on punitive efforts. Schools that have implemented these programs have seen a decrease in their disciplinary referrals.
A copy of the ACLU report, "Missing the Mark: Alternative Schools in the State of Mississippi" is available online: www.aclu.org/crimjustice/juv/38800pub20090224.html.
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