The ACLU is committed to challenging the "school to prison pipeline," a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead, they are isolated, punished and pushed out.

 Gone Too Far: Our Kids in Handcuffs

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Black Girls Matter - Columbia Law School New Stats Report

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The Poor Get Prison Report by Institute for Policy Studies and Criminalization of Poverty Project

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What New Stats Show About The School To Prison Pipeline For Black Girls Is Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined

Judging by the statistics, the national focus on the troubled plight of Black boys with initiatives like President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” may be missing a real crisis that’s hidden in plain sight: Black girls are treated even more harshly in American schools than Black boys when compared to their white counterparts—leading to them now being the fastest growing population in the juvenile justice system.

The numbers are jarring: Black girls across the country were suspended six times more often than white girls, compared to Black boys being suspended three times more often than white boys, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s analysis of the 2011-2012 school year. Only 2 percent of white females were subjected to exclusionary suspensions, compared to 12 percent of Black girls.

Because males are suspended in greater numbers than females, the harsh treatment of Black boys tends to draw all the attention. But a new report by the African American Policy Forum and Columbia Law School called “Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected” shines a spotlight on Black girls in public school, playing particular attention to what happens to them in the New York City and Boston school systems.

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Posted by Nick Chiles - Atlanta Blackstar - Empowering Narratives to Change Our World

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