Resources
Texas' School-to-Prison Pipeline
Numerous studies by national experts in the fields of education, criminal justice and mental health have established a link between school dropout rates and incarceration. Texas Appleseed teamed with nine pro bono law firms, coordinated by lead pro bono partner Vinson & Elkins LLP, to research the Texas’ School-to-Prison Pipeline. Major findings include:
- In Texas, Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs have five times the dropout rate of mainstream schools.
- Two-thirds of the students sent to DAEPs in Texas are referred at the discretion of school districts, and are not mandatory removals under state law.
- In Texas, 211 school districts disproportionately referred African American students to DAEPs for one or more years between 2001 and 2006.
- Although special education students represented 11 percent of the overall Texas public school population in 2005-2006, they accounted for 22 percent of total annual DAEP referrals, 26 percent of out-of-school suspensions, and 21 percent of ISS referrals per year.
- Fourteen Texas school districts accounted for about 85 percent of referrals of 500 pre-K and kindergarten children and about 2,700 1st graders to DAEPs between 2001 and 2006.
- DAEPs are restricted by Texas law for children under age six unless they are found carrying a gun to school.
Texas Appleseed’s report includes research-based models for effective school disciplinary programs and policy recommendations to reduce the overall number and the over-representation of minority and special education students in disciplinary removals from the regular classroom.
