Gisele Shorter Joins Mic and Tumblr’s Issue Time on School to Prison Pipeline

Black girls are six times more likely to get suspended from school than white girls. Black boys are three times more likely to get suspended than white boys. There are more security officers than counselors in three of the five largest school districts in the U.S. 

The statistics won’t come as a shock to those who understand the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a series of policies and practices that push students, especially those most at-risk, from classrooms to the criminal justice system at a young age, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. It’s time we change the conversation and the policy that leads to more incarceration, inequality and hopelessness for so many.

Mic teamed up with Tumblr and an amazing panel of experts for a discussion about the school to prison pipeline. Experts on race, education and law answered reader questions on injustice in the education system. Dr. Gisele Shorter, VP/Executive Director, New York and New Jersey, Turnaround for Children was among the experts. Other participants included Rebecca Epstein, Executive Director, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality; Sarah Hinger, Staff Attorney, ACLU Racial Justice Program; Jamilah King, Senior Writer, Mic; Rashad Robinson, Executive Director, Color of Change; and Carla Shedd, Assistant Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, Columbia University.

Read the full question and answer session here.