As part of CPS (Chicago Public School) I have witnessed some of the "School-To-Prison Pipeline" of many students. The zero-tolerance policy had been implemented in my school, thus causing the suspensions and expulsions of many of my fellow students. It makes no sense to expel a student because he has broken a rule or violated a code of student conduct. Expulsion and suspension only discourage students to stay in school and sometimes creates a spiteful relationship between the school and the student who has been "disciplined". Suspension is like a break from school. Many students are unmotivated to do well and suspension and expulsion reinforces this lack of motivation. What administrators fail to see is that these students are troubled and need to be helped and rehabilitated. This "discipline" marks a student as destined to fail and perhaps go into the juvenile justice system.
These disciplinary actions have gotten stricter as time goes on. For example, at my high school, if you were caught using your cell phone and the administration were to find out about it, they would give you detention and expel you for three days. Many students have been suspended, expelled or even arrested on the basis of many offenses.
In my junior year of high school, I joined Peer Jury at the police precinct. Our goal was to rehabilitate students with criminal records or who have violated student conduct and prevent them from entering the juvenile system. As peer jurors we would assign students sentences that would get them involved the community and would help them control their emotions. They would be given community service hours to complete as well as session with anger management mentors. Programs like these should be implemented in schools to prevent students from becoming delinquents.
The video Black Males, Black Dreams made me realize that the education system is even worse than I realized. The fact that the government is more inclined to throw troubled youth into the juvenile system, and eventually prison, than to fund education for these youth. A neighborhood in New York City, with a predominantly African-American population, funds $42,000, in taxpayer money, per inmate in jail and funds $9,000 per student in school . Legislation does not put enough emphasis on the importance of education.As a graduated CPS student who attends college, I don't feel as prepared as suburbans schools who have adequate funding for the success of academics. Additionally, to add the the pressure, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, has cut funds for CPS and is investing in Charter School. These charter schools supposedly perform better than public school; however, although not well funded, the top-performing schools are public and they include schools like Lane Tech and Northside who have average ACT scores of 28. Furthermore, Charter School are not entirely publicly funded so there rights and benefits of instructors are at risks because they don't recognize unions and do not ensure employment. Meanwhile, in CPS instructors with tenure lost their positions and were labelled, DNH (do not hire), throughout all public schools. The apathy of city and federal government officials is definitely felt in the public school system.
I intend to notify students, faculty, and guardians about these shifts in budgeting and firings. I intend to be an resource to students to allow them to graduate on time and attend college. Especially with neighborhood schools that are the main funnels for School-To-Prison Pipelines. These schools have the worst academic reputations and lack essential resources for students, many don't even get their high school diploma.
With the Empowerment Pipeline I want to listen carefully to students' situations in order to cater to their needs and wants. Hopefully, through this project I can improve in my communications skill to motivate students while building their confidence and my hope in them.
Hosting students from Tilden High School is a great opportunity for these students to get a feel for the expectations of college. I'm glad to have the chance to help inner-city youth think about college and further their education to have career and successful futures. I hope they grow from my advice and suggestions, especially since I have gone through CPS.
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