Half of All African American Suspensions and Expulsions Were in Thirteen Southern States

Edward Smith and Shaun Harper have released a new study focusing on suspensions and expulsions in the South.  Most of it is sadly par for the course, but the enormous portion of the nation's suspensions and expulsions that come from the South was shocking.  "Nationally, 1.2 million Black students were suspended from K-12 public schools in a single academic year – 55% of those suspensions occurred in 13 Southern states. Districts in the South also were responsible for 50% of Black student expulsions from public schools in the United States."  The racial disparities also seemed to track consistently higher than than other regions.  "In 132 Southern school districts, Blacks were disproportionately suspended at rates five times or higher than their representation in the student population."  Expulsion disparities were high as well, although slightly lower the suspension disparities.   "In 77 Southern school districts, Blacks were disproportionately expelled at rates five times or higher than their representation in the student population."

The study also includes a nice set of tables with the data for individual school districts, so one can easily see what is occurring in their own community, region, and state.

Get the full report here.