- Between 1972-1973 and 2009-2010, the use of suspensions for black secondary students grew by 12.5 percentage points (from 11.8 percent to 24.3 percent), while the increase for white students was 1.1 (from 6 percent to 7.1 percent).
- Middle school black males were suspended at a rate of nearly 31 percent, compared with 10 percent for white males and 17 percent for Latino males.
- African-American females in secondary schools were suspended at higher rates than males of any other racial/ethnic group.
- The most profound disparities appeared when looking at race, gender, and disability status combined: 36 percent of black male students with disabilities enrolled in secondary schools were suspended at least once in 2009-2010. That was 14 percentage points greater than the next group, Latino males with disabilities (22 percent).
- Differences in suspension rates can be found among schools in the same district – e.g., Los Angeles Unified has large numbers of both lower-suspending schools and higher-suspending schools – suggesting that successful alternative approaches are already in place.
Published by
- Civil Rights Project