TELL CONGRESS TO PASS THE END PUSHOUT ACT TAKE ACTION

Dear Friend,

Each and every child regardless of race, gender, class, faith, status or ability deserves the right to a quality education and to attend schools where they can learn, grow, feel safe, and thrive.

But imagine being a student in a school where you were disciplined for expressing trauma. Imagine being suspended for your own natural hair. Imagine being pushed out of the classroom for showing energy, independent thinking and strength that would earn others the label of ‘future leader.’

This is the unfortunate reality faced by too many Black and Brown students, and even further Black and Brown girls who have been pushed out of school, making them more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system due to systemic racism. [1]

This pattern must stop! Tell Congress to Pass the End Push Out Act now!

Pushout refers to the punitive discipline practices schools use, which exclude students from class and too often harm students and communities by pushing them out of school altogether. These practices affect all students, but they disproportionately affect students of color, students with disabilities, and LGBTQIA students.

Here’s what you should know about school pushout:

• Black Girls are Being Expelled and Suspended at Alarming Rates
  According to the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, Black girls are seven times more likely to be suspended and four times more likely to be arrested at school, as compared to their white peers for the same types of behaviors. Girls’ education is being disrupted by suspension and expulsion, which has a severe impact on their academic experience and takes away their opportunity to learn. [2]
  
  
• School Policies Enable Pushout 
  School policies that are innately biased make it difficult for girls of color to thrive in school. Zero tolerance policies criminalize Black and Brown girls and lead to disproportionate, entirely unfair, and harmful suspensions and expulsions for minor infractions. This includes school policies that do not allow extensions, braids, weaves, etc. and are inherently racist and discriminatory as they force Black girls to erase their identity and conform to eurocentric beauty standards. [3]
  
  To add further injury, studies show the regular presence of school resource officers and other law enforcement leads to harsher and sometimes violent treatment of Black girls in particular. School dress codes hyper-sexualize girls, who are being removed from class because they are too “distracting,” further disrupting their learning. [4]
  
  
• Discipline Policies Are Informed by Racial Biases and Stereotypes
  Black girls are often stereotyped as being sassy, loud, aggressive, and confrontational. Ironically, speaking your mind, being assertive, and having strong opinions are often celebrated as leadership skills when displayed by white girls – but such behaviors are discouraged or punished for Black girls. The discrimination and bias that Black and Brown girls experience daily at school by teachers, administrators, and students often leads to discipline without acknowledgment of the discrimination they face or exploration of other possible reasons for the behavior. These stereotypes often fuel harsher punishments, which further criminalize them.
  
  This makes addressing implicit biases essential to creating more equitable outcomes for Black and Brown girls in school. Implicit biases can influence what teachers expect of their students and can lead to lower expectations for their Black students. If teachers are acting on their biases, it could have harmful effects on their Black and Brown students. Schools need to provide implicit bias training to educators to help address this issue. [5]
  
  
• The Importance of Mental Health Resources and School Counselors
  Black and Brown girls are at a higher risk of experiencing and/or witnessing violence and other traumatic experiences. These experiences have a profound impact on them and can alter their mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. Unaddressed trauma can affect students’ ability to learn, and it’s not something they can just leave outside of school. There needs to be more support for girls’ mental health at school and more trauma-informed training for educators so they can respond to students’ actions with the right tools and necessary resources and referrals. [6]

We can end Push Out! Tell Congress to Pass the End Push Out Act.

Schools can start addressing pushout now by taking steps to shift the culture of criminalization. This includes centering compassion and empathy when addressing behavior and student needs.

Schools also can and should advocate for best practices like “calling in” versus “calling out,” instead of shaming or publicly punishing students. Teachers can compassionately invite students to reflect on their behavior. These practices can minimize existing trauma while still addressing misbehavior. Restorative justice practices help promote a more positive environment and better connect girls to their local community, fostering conditions where Black girls can succeed. 

And! It’s time for Congress to Pass the End Push Out Act!

Lawmakers can prevent unfair school pushout now by passing the P.U.S.H.O.U.T. Act (H.R. 5325).[7] The bill aims to stop discriminatory punishment practices that criminalize Black and Brown students and pushes them out of school and into the juvenile and criminal justice system effectively fueling the school-to-prison pipeline.

A core part of the bill incentivizes states and schools to ban most out-of-school suspensions and expulsions for minor infractions. This major step can ensure there are equitable educational opportunities for girls of color to achieve academic success by ending punitive and discriminatory discipline practices that put Black and Brown girls at risk.[8]

The Ending PUSHOUT Act makes federal grants conditional on schools banning most suspensions and expulsions of children up to fifth grade. It also aims to eliminate suspensions and expulsions over minor infractions like tardiness and absenteeism or violations of grooming and appearance policies that consistently discriminate against students of color. The bill would require school districts to ban all corporal punishment, which remains legal in 19 states across the country and is disproportionately administered to black students and students with disabilities.

Together we can end the culture of criminalization in our schools and build school cultures and environments where all kids, particularly those who have been harmed by policies and practices that push them out of the classroom and into the juvenile and criminal justice system, can thrive. 

Join us in ending pushout, and dismantling the school to prison pipeline for good!

Thanks for all you do,

-- Amber, Aryan, Beatriz, Beth, Casey, Christina, Claudia, Diana, Diarra, Donna, dream, Elyssa, Felicia, Gloria, Hanna, Jacqueline, Jessica, Jordan, Joy, Julia, Karen, Keisha, Kelle, Kristin, Linda, Lisa, Lucrecer, Maggie, Mandy, Marysol, Monifa, Nadia, Namatie, Nancy, Nate, Nina, Ruby, Ruth, Sara, Selina, Shanette, Sheila, Sili, Sue Anne, Tasmiha, Taylor, Tina, Tola, and Xochitl

P.S.–October is Juvenile Justice Month. To learn how you can engage and take additional actions! CLICK HERE
 

References:

[1] Resources | PUSHOUT
[2][3][4][5][6] School Pushout: What You Need to Know & How to Combat It
[7] H.R.2248 - Ending PUSHOUT Act of 2021
[8] Bill Aims to End the "School to Confinement Pathway

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