Missouri's Pipeline of Injustice: From School to Prison

UPDATED October 2018

Black students and students with disabilities are punished more severely and more frequently than their peers in schools across Missouri. Disproportionate school discipline in Missouri is costly, unconstitutional, and funnels children out of school and into the criminal justice system.

Our new report, “From School to Prison: Missouri’s Pipeline of Injustice,” documents discipline disparities and includes recommendations for students, parents, teachers and policymakers on how to stop this crisis in our education system.

Among our findings:

Black students are 4.5 times more likely to be suspended than White students.
Black students with disabilities were more than three times more likely to be suspended than White students with disabilities.
Black boys are almost four times more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension than White boys.
Black girls are six times more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension than White girls.
Missouri is one of 19 states in the nation that still allows corporal punishment. Black students are almost twice as likely to be hit in school as their White peers.
Between 2011 and 2014, the rate of students expelled from school in Missouri doubled.

The consequences of excessive discipline extend far beyond the classroom, perpetuating cycles of poverty, low-education attainment, and structural inequalities that span generations.

The school-to-prison pipeline is costly for taxpayers, too. It costs $89,170 a year to pay for one child in a juvenile justice facility, compared to $10,802 per in-school student.