Alternative Education vs. Alternative Discipline

We've noted for a long time that real alternative education works a lot better than programs that call themselves "alternative education" but are really disciplinary placements. In most alternative discipline programs, students are "sentenced" to an alternative program.
Back in the late 90s, before the Statewide Alternative Education program was initiated, we had some opportunities to compare the two types of treatments and found that students improved when in true alternative education programs; the reverse was true when the programs were disciplinary placements.
More evidence was published this week. See the article, Disciplinary Policy in Texas Raises Concerns.
Here are a few paragraphs from the article; I've highlighted the most disturbing statistics:

Malique is one of more than 100,000 Texas schoolchildren removed from their regular schools each year and sent to "discipline alternative-education placement," or DAEP.

The practice isn't unusual: In school systems across the country, students who act out are sent to special "alternative" schools. Administrators say it's the best way to keep schools safe, and in fact, state laws in Texas and elsewhere mandate that students be suspended for weapons or drug offense.

But most of the students removed from Texas classrooms have committed relatively minor, nonviolent offenses, says Rebecca Lightsey of Texas Appleseed, an Austin-based advocacy group. For many, this marks the beginning of the end of school.

Lightsey's group conducted a study on the effects of Texas' "zero tolerance" approach to discipline in schools. It found that students sent to alternative schools are five times more likely to drop out — and they're more likely to end up in prison.