Suspension in Buffalo Public Schools: History, Analysis and a Holistic, Positive Path Forward

The New York Civil Liberties Union has published a white paper to address the ongoing suspension crisis in Buffalo Public Schools. Buffalo Public Schools students and families have historically been subject to systemic inequities related to education and well-being. This paper aims to illuminate the policies, practices, and programs that have allowed those inequities to persist and highlights recommendations for holistic, preventative interventions that have opportunity to disrupt the “school-to-prison pipeline”—a concept that describes the significant risks that suspension and associated exclusionary discipline practices in schools place on children. Students who are suspended or expelled are up to twice as likely to be charged or convicted of a crime and incarcerated as young adults, significantly less likely to pursue college educations, and much more likely to live in poverty as adults.