The Colorado Black Health Collaborative’s (CBHC) Education Committee is on the move. The Committee has been meeting and the project they have chosen to focus on and address is the “School-to Prison Pipeline.” The School-to-Prison Pipeline is also known as the School-to-Prison Link or the Schoolhouse-to-Jailhouse Track. It is policies and procedures implemented in school systems that help to usher our school children down a path from school into the criminal justice system. In the past disciplinary issues with students that were once handled by going to the principal’s office and/or detention are now handled by suspension, expulsion, and/or even arrest. Black students are suspended and expelled three times more than their white peers, according to data captured by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
CBHC Committee members are working on identifying local Colorado experts on the School-to-Prison Pipeline issue. They are working to interview these experts to ascertain information and current status in the school system(s) here in Colorado. The Committee is conducting and pulling together research. The objective of this project is to obtain clarity on the issue as it pertains to Black students, and its impacts on their health; make recommendations and identify steps to take to address the issue.
If you are interested in becoming part of the CBHC Education Committee, and/or other CBHC Committees, please visit https://www.coloradoblackhealth.org/committees/ and complete the Membership Registration or send an e-mail message to [email protected].
Just for the Health of it!