Black Students Disciplined More Than Other Racial Groups In Schools

Black kids, especially boys get suspended more often than their peers

New data from the U.S. Department of Education reveals that Black children, especially boys are disciplined way more often than their peers at school.

The stats collected from 2009-2010 show that one in five black boys and more than one in 10 black girls were suspended out of school. Black students were three and a half times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers.

The New York Times also reports:

One in five black boys and more than one in 10 black girls received an out-of-school suspension. Over all, black students were three and a half times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers.

The department began collecting this type of information in 1968, but the effort was suspended in 2006 by the Bush Administration. Guess they wanted leave certain children behind after all.

Now that the research has been reinstated, it shows that the involvement of law enforcement is also an alarming trend. The numbers show that  over 70 percent of the students involved in school-related arrests or referred to law enforcement were Hispanic or black. 

"Those are extremely dramatic numbers, and show the importance of reinstating the civil rights data collection and expanding the categories of information collected,” said Deborah J. Vagins of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office to the NY Times. “The harsh punishments, especially expulsion under zero tolerance and referrals to law enforcement, show that students of color and students with disabilities are increasingly being pushed out of schools, oftentimes into the criminal justice system."

Adding insult to ignorance, the kids at these schools are more than likely being taught by teachers who are  inexperienced and low-paid. The Times says "teachers in high-minority schools were paid $2,251 less per year than their colleagues elsewhere. In New York high schools, though, the discrepancy was more than $8,000, and in Philadelphia, more than $14,000."

[ALSO READ: The School-to-Prison Pipeline]