Punishing Promise: School Discipline in the Era of Desegregation

Matt Kautz explains how his observations while teaching in Detroit and Chicago led him to study the rise of suspensions and other disciplinary tactics in urban districts during school desegregation, fueling the school-to-prison pipeline. His research has focused particularly on Boston, Detroit, and Louisville during court-ordered desegregation, for which there is ample documentation of school disciplinary codes, statistics on usage against students, and responses from administrators, teachers, law enforcement, and the community. Kautz is a Ph.D. candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University Related Collections AFT Local 231: Detroit Federation of Teachers Records Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department Records Detroit Public Schools Community Relations Division Records Wayne State University College of Education, Dean’s Office: Detroit Public Schools Monitoring Commission on Desegregation Records Episode Credits Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English Interviewer: Dan Golodner Interviewees: Matt Kautz Sound: Troy Eller English With support from the Reuther Podcast Collective: Bart Bealmear, Elizabeth Clemens, Meghan Courtney, Troy Eller English, Dan Golodner, and Paul Neirink