Pipeline to Prison: Special Education too Often Leads to Jail for Thousands of American Children 

Not uncommonly, a parent will call our office very upset to report that their child or adolescent was arrested at school for a behavioral incident. Occasionally, the issue is a serious one resulting in an injury or a serious safety concern. More commonly, the incident is one where the school district has decided to send a message that this conduct won't be tolerated and the student is handcuffed and put into a police car with the idea of an audience in mind. Policies on when to arrest vary widely from school district to school district. Very often, those arrested are students with a disability. Thousands of children are arrested each year. At least one in three of those children has a disability ranging from emotional disabilities such as bipolar disorder to learning disabilities. Some researchers put the figure as high as 70%. Across the country students with emotional disabilities are three times more likely to be arrested before leaving high school than the general population.  

Often, these students are excluded from school or placed in alternative settings that may or may not be helpful to them. Very frequently, there will be significant disruptions to their education and to their relationships with typical peers. Frequently, they will never return to a regular education building. I had a special education administrator describe the placement of students in alternative schools as being subject to the "Hotel California" effect. This refers to the lyrics in a song by the Eagles that goes as follows:

Last thing I remember, I was

Running for the door

I had to find the passage back

To the place I was before

"Relax," said the night man,

"We are programmed to receive.

You can check-out any time you like,

But you can never leave!" 

This treatment by the education system is also fueling the school to prison pipeline.

After an arrest, many students lose valuable learning time and fall even further behind while others become a frequent fixture in juvenile courts and a patchwork system of detention centers, youth jails and alternative schools for education. A 2006 study found that for all students, a first-time arrest during high school nearly doubles the odds of a student dropping out, while a court appearance nearly quadruples the odds. 

• Special Education and School Law

• Family Law

• Juvenile and Criminal Law

• Mental Health and Disability Law