Educational institutions are supposed to give all children, regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation, quality education to succeed in the world. Unfortunately, schools are not providing the same level of quality of education to the diverse student population. Among the minority groups in the student population, African-American and Latino students are disproportionally affected when it comes to discipline.

School discipline is a highly contested topic inside and outside the classroom. America’s public schools and criminal justice system built a union with each other with terrible repercussions for children of color.

African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately targeted for the most severe, harsh disciplinary actions. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of suspensions, explosions, and arrests over minor behaviors, such as cell phones or talking back, which were once handled by the principal. These disciplinary systems, also known as the “Zero tolerance,” create a pipeline from the classroom to the prison called the school-to-prison pipeline. These criminalizing, disciplinary policies damage the lives of children of color by encouraging them to drop out of school, with consequence that they become permanent residents of the criminal justice system.

There is a need to establish a new disciplinary system in American public schools, because studies have shown that suspensions, explosions, and arrests do not improve school climate, but instead cause children — particularly minorities — to have social and academic problems.

The scope of the problem became very clear when grassroots organizations and justice centers from different cities studied school disciplinary policies and the results it had on its students. For instance, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a non-profit organization in Texas, discovered in 2011 the massive number of students suspended or expelled, with a disproportionately high percentage of African Americans and Latino students with discretionary violations. Recently in a report by the Popular Democracy, The School-To-Prison Pipeline Report of 2016, states the high percentage of African American and Latino students arrested, suspended, and expelled in New York City schools and the expensive cost behind them. No matter where one goes in America, the school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately harms students of color.

The ideal disciplinary system in American public schools is one that addresses both the schools’ and students’ concern over discipline without being biased and racist, including but not limited to the following areas of improvement:

1. A Secretary of Education who knows the difference between proficiency and growth.
2. A clear universal definition of discipline.
3. A universal reform on zero tolerance policies in schools.
4. The creation and establishment of an agreement with the court’s system and police department to reduce arrests and the use of force against students.
5. Better funding for schools for teachers and social workers instead of police and metal detectors
6. A curriculum that teaches students about cultural diversity.
7. A change in the consequences for the misbehavior in schools.
8. Providing explanations of fractures and punishments to students and parents.

The first step is to acknowledge the wrongdoing the current disciplinary policies have had on minority students. It is unjust for school policy to systematically target a specific population with a policy that hurts their knowledge and achievement. For instance, the school-to-prison pipeline has a mental and physical impact on African American and Latino students — to the point of leading them to drop out of school or turn to the streets. This policy does not protect students but instead hurts their chances of graduating from high school.

Receiving an education gives one a better opportunity to attend college, get a better job, and have a bright future. Students, especially students of color, cannot receive these occasions when there are racially discriminatory disciplinary policies that harm them in a place where they are supposed to grow and prosper in the body and mind. By starting to speak out and standing up for what is right in the classroom, policymakers and schools can begin to see the importance of keeping students of color in the classroom and out the prison system.