Texas' School to Prison Pipeline

Student in school

Texas Appleseed researches and reports on the impact of school discipline policies; ticketing, arrest and use of force in public schools; court involvement in student discipline; and the effectiveness of alternative education programs to help close pathways to dropout and incarceration.

Latest News...

CIVIL RIGHTS FILING ON IMPACT OF BRYAN ISD TICKETING. Texas Appleseed and the Brazos County chapter of the NAACP filed a Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, challenging the disproportionate Class C misdemeanor ticketing of African American students in Bryan ISD for Disorderly Conduct-Language and Disruption of Class--minor misbehavior that used to be handled by a trip to the principal's office.
Bryan ISD OCR Complaint 2.20.2013 Summary of Bryan OCR Complaint
Press Release, Texas Appleseed 2.20.2013
TEXAS SENATE HEARING ON SCHOOL SAFETY. Texas Appleseed filed testimony addressing school safety--advocating a balanced approach. Our filing identifies programs that work and addresses the problems that can occur when school police officers become involved in student discipline that poses no safety risk. Texas Appleseed Testimony 1.28.2013

POPULAR DOWNLOADS

Truancy Research 3.2013
Breaking Rules, Breaking Budgets: Cost of Explusionary Discipline in 11 Texas School Districts 10.29.2012
Latest Ticketing and Arrest Data for 40+ Texas School Districts 4.2013
Texas Appleseed Testimony 12.11.2012 Submitted in writing for the nation's first Congressional hearing on the school-to-prison pipeline (U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights)

MEDIA COVERAGE

Dallas ISD Police Push to Reduce Citations Given to Students, Dallas Morning News, 1.14.2013
11Texas Districts Spent $227 Million a Year On Discipline, The Atlanta Constitution, 11.5.2012
School Discipline Policies Too Harsh, Senators Say, Houston Chronicle, 10.30.2012

Project Timeline

March 27, 2012 Texas Appleseed releases its first "cost of discipline" study for a major school district--calculating it cost Dallas ISD more than $11 million to remove 25,000 students from their home campuses in 2010-11. Calculations for more Texas school districts will be released soon. Press Release and DISD Study

February 23, 2011 In the State of the Judiciary Address to the 82nd Legislature, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court Wallace Jefferson emphasizes that criminalization of minor misbehavior can exacerbate our school dropout problems. His address cites Texas Appleseed's school-to-prison pipeline research. State of the Judiciary Address

January 20, 2011 Texas Appleseed releases the third in a series of reports on the school-to-prison pipeline.

Ticketing_Booklet_cover

Ticketing, Arrest & Use of Force in Schools

Executive Summary

April 29, 2010 Texas Appleseed Board member Ronald Lewis and TA Legal Director Deborah Fowler are invited to testify on expulsion and ticketing of students before the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

April 23, 2010 The Dallas Morning News publishes an op ed by Texas Appleseed Legal Director Deborah Fowler on the latest school-to-prison pipeline findings.
Overhaul Texas' School Expulsion Policies

April 14, 2010 Texas Appleseed releases a new report documenting the disproportionate impact of school expulsions on minority and special education students.

Pro Bono Partners & Funders

Our current pro bono partners are Marshall & Lewis LLP, Mayer Brown LLP, Crews Law Firm, P.C. and Vinson & Elkins LLP, with assistance from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. In the first year, Scott Fletcher and Lizzie Pannill with Vinson and Elkins coordinated pro bono involvement of volunteers at these nine law firms: Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Anaipakos, P.C.; Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal, PC; Escamilla & Poneck, Inc.; ExxonMobil; Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Mayer Brown LLP; Patton Boggs LLP; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

Providing generous financial support are Houston Endowment; The Meadows Foundation; Harold Simmons Foundation; Rockwell Fund, Inc.; and The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.