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African American students tend to be suspended and expelled disproportionately to their enrollment in southern school districts, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education.

Black students in the South are punished more severely than their peers, a study of school discipline contends.

Fifty-five percent of the 1.2 million black students suspended in the U.S. live in just 13 Southern states. The report conducted by the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education offers district-by-district examination of school discipline for black students in the South.

Researchers Edward Smith and Shaun Harper found black students were suspended and expelled at higher rates than their peers across the region, which includes more than 3,000 school districts. This held true in urban, suburban, and rural districts, for black boys and girls. The study is an analysis of every public school district in the South – more than 3,000.

“The findings in our report point to the residual effects of Jim Crow, slavery, and unequal schooling,” Harper said. “They are further explained by poverty trends, structural inequities in the education workforce, and a longstanding history of racial injustice that cyclically reproduces itself, especially across these 13 southern states.”

In Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which enroll 141,357 students, blacks make up 42 percent of students. They account for 70.7 percent of the 13,384 suspensions.

Among other findings:

• In North Carolina, 26 percent of the students are black, but account for 51 percent of suspensions and 38 percent of expulsions.

• In South Carolina, 36 percent of the students are black, but they make up 60 percent of suspensions and 62 percent of expulsions.

• In 181 school districts in the South, 100 percent of the expelled students were black. In 84 districts, 100 percent of the suspended students were black.

Suspensions and expulsions can carry life-changing consequences, the study suggests. They impact academic performance and the possibility of college enrollment as well as perceptions of students.

“It could take years to process through the trauma and stigma of being deemed a problem—that you’re not responsible, not serious,” Smith said. “Teachers and district leaders are signaling that you’re not worthy enough for us to invest in.”

The researchers’ recommendations for improving equity in school discipline include:

• Black families, religious congregations, and others concerned about racial justice must hold schools accountable and partner with educators to identify alternatives to policies and practices that sustain the so-called school-to-prison pipeline.

• Zero tolerance discipline policies don’t make schools safer. School leaders need to eliminate them, offer more professional development for educators on managing student behaviors, and lead district-wide conversations about racial equity.

• Teaching more about implicit bias and other racist forces that lead to dis- proportionality in school discipline must occur in schools of education, as well as other sites where teachers are prepared and educational leaders are certified.

Harper, executive director for the center and a Penn GSE professor, maintains the report is a call to action.

“We want to raise consciousness and ignite important conversations among parents and families, community leaders and activists, clergy and religious leaders, and educators about what we can do to make sure black students aren’t continually affected by racist school policies and practices,” Harper said.

On the Net:

www.gse.upenn.edu/equity/southernstates

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