A new study has revealed that 55 percent of all black students who faced suspensions attended public schools in 13 Southern states.
The University of Pennsylvania study, titled Disproportionate Impact of K–12 School Suspension and Expulsion on Black Students in Southern States, was penned by Edward J Smith and Shaun R Harper. It claims that black students in Kindergarten-12 grade are disproportionately disciplined by suspension and expulsion.
The report spans a total of 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Results from 3,000 school districts across the states show that Louisiana and Mississippi expelled the highest number of black students.
“I am actually shocked that there is not more outrage,” Professor Harper told the New York Times.
In 84 school districts across Southern states, 100% of the students
suspended were black.
(Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania)
Students who are disciplined by suspension or expulsion are more likely to have run-ins with the law in the future, the Times writes. For this injustice, the authors of the study personally apologised for their peers in academia.
"We are sorry that schools of education and other sites where teachers and educational leaders are prepared and certified do so little to raise consciousness about the implicit biases that ultimately lead to trends such as those documented in this study," they wrote.
"In most programs across the country, aspiring teachers,principals, and superintendents are taught far too little about disproportionality in school discipline and its racist undercurrents."
Both professors asked readers to understand that their work highlights implicit bias and racism within the schools, rather than potential misbehaviour by black students.
"We hope this report is not misused to reinforce deficit,criminalized narratives about Black children. The alarming data presented herein go beyond student misbehavior and bad parenting — they also are attributable to racist practices and policies in K-12 public schools across the South."
The authors did offer recommendations for the school districts. They said school leaders need eliminate zero tolerance policies, offer professional development for educators and lead conversations on racial equity.
