There seems to be this “crisis” in Baltimore City, according Project Baltimore. For those unfamiliar, there are students in Baltimore City, who are being “pushed through” the school system, and are graduating. With diplomas. And are essentially, illiterate. In 2017. I am not surprised. And, as readers, you should not be either.
The “School to Prison” Pipeline has been the topic of immense discussion for decades, even with allegations of special education class rosters being used to predict the number of future prisoners. The United States Department of Justice publishes demographics of state and national prison populations, where on both levels, there are high percentages of prisoners with learning disabilities and mental health illnesses. In other words: This is nothing new. I know a young man, who did not receive an IEP until he was in the fifth grade. At this time, the young man was not able to read on a second grade level, but was in the fifth grade. I remember sitting at the conference table, with the Student Support Team, and the student’s mother. She was bombarded with terms she did not understand, and was told how much her son would learn, using this wonderful gift from the school system. I explained to her what this meant, and the services her son was supposed to receive. Fast forward to 2017. This same young man was unable to graduate. However, he was pushed through. Each year, teachers informed his mother that he was doing well. That with each new, alternative placement, this young man’s chances of receiving his diploma would increase. There was only one problem. He can only read on a fourth grade level, and he is twenty years old. While he decided to enroll in Job Corps and learn a trade, he is still unable to read the work needed to earn his certification.
Why is this such a HUGE concern now? Why are we now concerned with the treatment of our babies at this stage of the game? Is because Trump is in office? Are we now understanding the detrimental effects of uneducated masses? These are questions that “millennials” (somehow, my old behind got lumped into this group as well) are seeking to answer, as we move towards a more inclusive world. As a former educator, I used to ask myself these questions daily. What am I doing to decrease the number of brown and black babies from being incarcerated as adults? Slowly but surely, the educational landscape changed, where testing is being pushed in force. In Baltimore (Go O’s!), I remember growing up, and seeing “Baltimore, the City that reads”, plastered EVERYWHERE. Mayoral administration changed, and the slogan faded to our memories. Our children are no longer reading, and are more engaged in violent crimes, amongst each other. Our children are no longer reading, but are engaged in selling illegal substances to survive. Walking past abandoned buildings, with the stench of the decomposing bodies of rats and addicts, does not provide the environment that nurtures learning, instead provides the perfect incubator for prison.
At the time of this writing, Baltimore experienced 253 murders, with only 15% of Baltimore City’s young residents able to read on grade level. At the time of this writing, Baltimore experienced a proposed $13 million dollar budget cut, which would impact funding to schools. However, looming in the distance, is a brand new $35 million youth detention facility, designed to “rehabilitate” juvenile offenders. Community activists, teachers, students, and parents have opposed this new facility, and with good reason. In a city where youth services programming has been cut, how is it that the Hogan is able to raise funds for the state to donate a new jail, and not to the flailing school system? Preventative programs drastically decrease the number of offenders, and with more community rehabilitation, offender recidivism rates decrease as well. Isolated incarceration does not prepare youth adequately, and recidivism rates are actually higher. (Recidivism = reoffending). To me, and I could be reaching (which I doubt), it seems that capitalism and education are in an abusive relationship. Education wants to get away, live her best life, and grow generations of innovators and thinkers. She wants to frolic in the sun, tan on a beach, hang out with Damien Marley and Zoe Kravitz, and just flourish. However, Capitalism wants her in the house, forcing her to line his pockets. Children are now seen as the next generation of incarcerated slave labor. Educators are the lines of defense. We are the ones that can determine if our students are worth the protests, the walk-outs, the refusal to administer tests that use data to show the inferiority of the underdogs in this society.
253 murders, with a 15% proficiency rate in reading. 253 murders, only 15% can read on grade level. 253 murders and only 15% can read. 253 murders, and 85% of the future will be able to maintain employment right at the poverty level. It is time to put an end to the deliberate incarceration of the “least of them”. Educators are activists. We use our time and talents (and money) to support the students we serve, and try to encourage them to see past the muck and mire, and dig deeper. Past the abandoned buildings, junkies on the corners, the chalk outline outside of their door, the growls in their stomachs. As educator-activists, we must denounce traditional education, encourage engagement in the communities we serve, and break the deliberate cycle of youth incarceration.
The “School to Prison” Pipeline has been the topic of immense discussion for decades, even with allegations of special education class rosters being used to predict the number of future prisoners. The United States Department of Justice publishes demographics of state and national prison populations, where on both levels, there are high percentages of prisoners with learning disabilities and mental health illnesses. In other words: This is nothing new. I know a young man, who did not receive an IEP until he was in the fifth grade. At this time, the young man was not able to read on a second grade level, but was in the fifth grade. I remember sitting at the conference table, with the Student Support Team, and the student’s mother. She was bombarded with terms she did not understand, and was told how much her son would learn, using this wonderful gift from the school system. I explained to her what this meant, and the services her son was supposed to receive. Fast forward to 2017. This same young man was unable to graduate. However, he was pushed through. Each year, teachers informed his mother that he was doing well. That with each new, alternative placement, this young man’s chances of receiving his diploma would increase. There was only one problem. He can only read on a fourth grade level, and he is twenty years old. While he decided to enroll in Job Corps and learn a trade, he is still unable to read the work needed to earn his certification.
Why is this such a HUGE concern now? Why are we now concerned with the treatment of our babies at this stage of the game? Is because Trump is in office? Are we now understanding the detrimental effects of uneducated masses? These are questions that “millennials” (somehow, my old behind got lumped into this group as well) are seeking to answer, as we move towards a more inclusive world. As a former educator, I used to ask myself these questions daily. What am I doing to decrease the number of brown and black babies from being incarcerated as adults? Slowly but surely, the educational landscape changed, where testing is being pushed in force. In Baltimore (Go O’s!), I remember growing up, and seeing “Baltimore, the City that reads”, plastered EVERYWHERE. Mayoral administration changed, and the slogan faded to our memories. Our children are no longer reading, and are more engaged in violent crimes, amongst each other. Our children are no longer reading, but are engaged in selling illegal substances to survive. Walking past abandoned buildings, with the stench of the decomposing bodies of rats and addicts, does not provide the environment that nurtures learning, instead provides the perfect incubator for prison.
At the time of this writing, Baltimore experienced 253 murders, with only 15% of Baltimore City’s young residents able to read on grade level. At the time of this writing, Baltimore experienced a proposed $13 million dollar budget cut, which would impact funding to schools. However, looming in the distance, is a brand new $35 million youth detention facility, designed to “rehabilitate” juvenile offenders. Community activists, teachers, students, and parents have opposed this new facility, and with good reason. In a city where youth services programming has been cut, how is it that the Hogan is able to raise funds for the state to donate a new jail, and not to the flailing school system? Preventative programs drastically decrease the number of offenders, and with more community rehabilitation, offender recidivism rates decrease as well. Isolated incarceration does not prepare youth adequately, and recidivism rates are actually higher. (Recidivism = reoffending). To me, and I could be reaching (which I doubt), it seems that capitalism and education are in an abusive relationship. Education wants to get away, live her best life, and grow generations of innovators and thinkers. She wants to frolic in the sun, tan on a beach, hang out with Damien Marley and Zoe Kravitz, and just flourish. However, Capitalism wants her in the house, forcing her to line his pockets. Children are now seen as the next generation of incarcerated slave labor. Educators are the lines of defense. We are the ones that can determine if our students are worth the protests, the walk-outs, the refusal to administer tests that use data to show the inferiority of the underdogs in this society.
253 murders, with a 15% proficiency rate in reading. 253 murders, only 15% can read on grade level. 253 murders and only 15% can read. 253 murders, and 85% of the future will be able to maintain employment right at the poverty level. It is time to put an end to the deliberate incarceration of the “least of them”. Educators are activists. We use our time and talents (and money) to support the students we serve, and try to encourage them to see past the muck and mire, and dig deeper. Past the abandoned buildings, junkies on the corners, the chalk outline outside of their door, the growls in their stomachs. As educator-activists, we must denounce traditional education, encourage engagement in the communities we serve, and break the deliberate cycle of youth incarceration.
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