The Toronto East Detention Centre in Scarborough, Ontario (Wikimedia Commons)

There is a pipeline from school suspension to prisons in Toronto, an analysis from the Toronto Star shows.

Using information collected from freedom of information requests, the Toronto newspaper compared data about high school suspension rates for 2007-08 with postal code data and sentence snapshots for inmate’s in Ontario’s provincial jails. The Star’s analysis showed schools with high suspension rates were most often in areas with high incarceration costs.

An interactive map on the “School, Interrupted” site shows Toronto schools with the high suspension rates in comparison to provincial jail costs by postal code, further supporting the Star’s analysis. Articles on the site discuss the root causes for behavioral problems and activities leading to student suspension.

“They’ve taken social workers out of high schools and put in police officers,” said Jim Rankin, a Star reporter, in a presentation to Ryerson journalism students.

Rankin, works on the Star’s “Crime & Punishment” website, a micro-site devoted to examining Canada’s “tough on crime” policies. He also worked on the “School, Interrupted” a followup site, which looks into student suspensions and expulsions from the Toronto school system.

Rankin talked about the cost/benefit analysis of social programs in areas with high incarceration rates. He said he believes spending more money on ensuring students in these areas have opportunities for success would save the government money as fewer people would be sitting in prison.

A study entitled, “Does Education Reduce Participation in Criminal Activity?”, presented by Professor Enrico Moretti of UC Berkley in 2005, found young males with higher educational achievements had a reduced probability of participating in criminal activity.

Summary: Toronto Star micro-sites show the relationship between suspension rates and incarceration costs per postal code.