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Staff previews 2025 school-to-prison pipeline report, outlines 10-point plan to support HBCUs
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Summary
At its third-quarter business meeting, the commission’s staff previewed findings that Black boys face disproportionate discipline beginning in preschool and proposed a 10-point 'Empower Ed' initiative to strengthen HBCUs; staff will hold FY26 listening sessions and analyze food-insecurity impacts on students.
At its third-quarter business meeting, staff for the U.S. Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys previewed findings from a forthcoming 2025 report on the school-to-prison pipeline and outlined a 10-point "Empower Ed" initiative intended to strengthen historically Black colleges and universities.
The director (name not given on the record) said the report — expected around September or October — documents disproportionate discipline of Black students, particularly Black boys, beginning “really early in preschool” and escalating in some districts to referrals to school resource officers and juvenile arrests. "We found that there's disproportionate discipline regarding Black students, but Black boys in particular, and that it begins really early in preschool," the director said.
Why it matters: Staff said those early disciplinary patterns mirror disparities in the criminal justice system and argued that inconsistent due process and patchy data collection across states and districts make it difficult to measure and address the problem. The director called for clearer procedural safeguards and standardized data so policymakers can assess fairness and outcomes at state and local levels.
Key findings and recommendations: The director summarized research conclusions and a set of policy proposals. Staff announced the "Empower Ed" initiative for fiscal year 2026 and a list of 10 targeted recommendations connected to Executive Order 14283, the White House initiative to promote HBCU excellence and innovation. The director described the recommendations as including expanded HBCU capital financing and loan authority, continued debt-relief measures, increased Title III, Part B funding for graduate programs, facilitation of public–private partnerships, annual HBCU summits, financial-literacy and entrepreneurship programs, expanded dual-enrollment access through HBCUs, increased HBCU STEM investment, greater HBCU shares of FUTURE Act funding, and commerce-led entrepreneurship supports.
Staff engagement and next steps: The director said staff plans to hold listening sessions in four regions during fiscal 2026 to gather testimony from educators and advocates on the recommendations. Publication of the report is expected no later than October, and staff said they will circulate scheduling details for the commission’s fourth-quarter meeting to align with Congressional Black Caucus ALC week in September.
Questions from commissioners and members of Congress: Representative McBath, who identified herself during the meeting, asked for a copy of the report and urged staff to examine how SNAP changes and food insecurity could affect Black male students and households. "I would really be interested to know ... what that impact is going to be on young Black students and Black men in our communities," Rep. McBath said, also noting that Georgia was “sitting on a $16,000,000,000 surplus.” The director responded that staff would prioritize an analysis of nutrition-program impacts and report back if further work by the commission was warranted.
Commissioner Colclough thanked staff for the report and echoed concerns linking hunger to classroom behavior, saying a hungry child "isn't focused on anything but the next meal." The director invited commissioners to submit best-practice models or policy recommendations for staff follow-up.
Operational note: The director told participants that the commission's parent agency has entered an MOU with an external service referred to in the transcript as the "US Doge service"; staff said they had not yet observed operational impacts and will notify commissioners if that changes. The director also reiterated that commissioners should contact Monica Cooper, the commission’s support specialist, to receive materials.
The meeting closed after the director thanked attendees and again noted Chairwoman Frederica Wilson was absent from the session.
Next procedural steps: publication of the 2025 report (expected by October), FY26 regional listening sessions on HBCU policy, and a staff analysis of food-insecurity impacts requested by Rep. McBath.
