Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will announce a $2-billion plan to hire social workers and staff for school districts nationwide in an attempt to tamp down on black students’ school suspension rates and end the “school-to-prison” pipeline, a campaign aide said.
The plan, which the former Secretary of State will first propose in Harlem, New York, is part of her ongoing pitch to black voters, who polling shows support Clinton by significant margins and are a key part of her base in the race against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Clinton will point in her remarks to high suspension rates among black children, with boys three times more likely to be suspended and girls six times more likely to be suspended than white students. She will say schools “ought to be sending African-American youths on to college, not rushing them into the criminal justice system,” the aide said.
The plan is part of Clinton’s $125 billion economic revitalization plan that would provide funding for youth jobs—a key part of Sanders’ platform—and provide funding for entrepreneurship and small business growth.
This article was originally published on Time.com.
