School-to-Prison Pipeline

By Debora Gordon - Every time a student does poorly in school, or drops out, there is likely a great increase in the chances he will wind up in prison. I recall in my discussion with Lt. Jeff Smith at Kern Valley State Prison that 70% of inmates are high school dropouts. While correlation is not causation, there is no question that remaining in school through at least high school graduation substantially decreases the likelihood of criminal activity and subsequent imprisonment.