Dive Brief:
- John Deasy, the former superintendent of Los Angeles Unified who led the district’s controversial 1:1 iPad program, is shifting his focus to kids who end up in juvenile detention centers in an effort to further curb the school-to-prison pipeline.
- The Los Angeles Times reports Deasy is launching a nonprofit called "New Day, New Year" to develop alternative juvenile prisons that offer access to yoga, meditation, art, counseling and athletics along with educational programs.
- A scathing report released in March called Los Angeles County’s main juvenile facility a “Third World country prison,” and Deasy isn’t the only one working to reform the system — though his particular goal is to reduce recidivism by 50%.
Dive Insight:
The Every Student Succeeds Act requires districts receiving federal funding to do more for students who end up in juvenile justice facilities. First, they must ensure students have access to some type of credit-bearing coursework while they are in the juvenile justice system. Students who are removed from their school systems often are behind to begin with, and when they return to the classroom, they are even further behind. This helps contribute to a cycle of behavior problems that lead to further suspensions and contact with the criminal justice system, maintaining the school-to-prison pipeline.
Besides giving students in juvenile justice facilities access to credit-bearing work, schools must also commit to procedures for reintegrating students into secondary schools after they return from juvenile detention facilities. These efforts must be documented for state education agencies, providing a new level of accountability, which could help close the gaps in re-enrollment. Many students who leave school for juvenile detention never make it back to class again.