Break the pipeline. Build the pathways.
This is the theme of Metropolitan Congregations United’s campaign to end the school-to-prison pipeline, which officially began in 2014.
“You measure a society by the welfare of the children,” said Regina Gray, a representative of MCU. “Are our children okay?” she asked of the audience, who collectively shouted, “No!”
MCU is a community organization that puts faith into action by developing leaders who move their congregations, organizations, and communities to change public policy for the common good. During their work surrounding data of the St. Louis city and county school systems, they noted how police are entrenched in our schools and the unconstitutional practices in our juvenile courts and began to mobilize the community.
“What divides us is our racism,” said David Gerth, executive director of MCU. “Somehow it’s okay to belittle women and attack immigrants. Somehow it’s also been okay to fuel the fire of racial hatred.” His experiences observing and partaking in protests, marches, and led him to an even greater passion: children’s rights.
“But what really gets me excited,” he said, while fighting back his emotions, “is when we push back to break the school-to-prison pipeline and to build pathways and keep kids in class.”
Which kids? Kids who look like Maki Pickett, an elementary-school-aged child who repeated the words, “I am an African American leader,” during a poem which opened the event on Thursday, November 9 at Harris-Stowe State University.
In 2015, black elementary school children were more likely to be suspended in Missouri than in any state in the nation, according to a study by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA. Missouri had the greatest disparity between how often black and white students were given out-of-school suspension for the same infractions.
Missouri is still leading the way in out-of-school suspensions, according to the “Missouri’s Pipeline of Injustice: From School to Prison” report released by American Civil Liberties Union in September 2017.
“For children to succeed they must be in the classroom,” said Carolyn Randazzo, who presented on behalf of MCU. One route to ensuring children making poor choices are being given a fair shot is to embrace new strategies. St. Louis Public School teachers have begun the intensive study of trauma-informed training while also banning in-school suspensions for students in kindergarten through second grade.
Stacey Clay, deputy superintendent for the Office of Student Support Services for SLPS, noted the trauma students incur and the associated effects poverty can have on families. This can manifest itself into undesirable behaviors in children while in school.
Another alternative route to discipline is through the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program. This is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and social culture for students. Clay said there’s now staff on hand in the central office whose sole purpose is going into the schools and assisting with building a positive school culture.
“There aren’t separate funds available for the resources and staff needed to fully put a program together which nurtures the social and emotional needs of students,” Clay said. “So there is a need for separate allocations to support and provide assistance which families so desperately need.”
St. Louis county judges chose for a second year to decline the invitation to MCUs forum, but three county officials came in their place, including a chief juvenile officer and court director of programs. They committed to encouraging school districts and police to reduce the number of referrals sent to the court system and committed to analyzing and minimizing the data surrounding the racial disparities affecting our children. Lastly they committed to working on more treatment, and less punishment for children entering the court system.
As Aysha Gray, a student leader with MCU and a mistress of ceremonies for the event, told the crowd, “We have a chance to be on the right side of justice.”
