Today, the University of Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Educationreleased an 88-page report on the disproportionate impact of suspension and expulsion on Black students in 13 Southern states. Center researchers Edward J. Smith and Shaun R. Harper analyzed federal data from every public school district in the South.
Nationally, more than 1.2 million Black students were suspended from K-12 public schools in a single academic year - 55% of those suspensions occurred in districts across the 13 Southern states. Smith and Harper also found that Blacks were 24% of students enrolled in these Southern schools, yet comprised 48% of suspensions and 49% of expulsions. In 132 districts, Blacks were disproportionately suspended at rates five times or higher than their representation in the student population. In 181 districts, they were 100% of the students expelled from public schools.
The report includes a statement from U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA), statewide suspension and expulsion rates disaggregated by sex, and a state-by-state presentation of suspension statistics for Black students in 3,022 public school districts. "We hope this publication raises public consciousness and gives parents and families, policymakers, educators, activists, and others concerned about the school-to-prison pipeline the data they need to demand change in school districts across the South," the authors wrote.
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About the Center
The Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education unites University of Pennsylvania scholars who do research on race and important topics pertaining to equity in education. Center staff and affiliates collaborate on funded research projects, assessment activities, and the production of timely research reports. Our strength resides in our interdisciplinarity - professors from various departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Social Policy and Practice, the Wharton School, Penn Law School, and the School of Nursing join Graduate School of Education faculty as affiliates. Principally, we aim to publish cutting-edge implications for education policy and practice, with an explicit focus on improving equity in P-12 schools, colleges and universities, and social contexts that influence educational outcomes. The Center is home to the Penn Equity Institutes.
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