Racial Disparity in Student Discipline Isn’t All About Race
Black students are suspended from school at substantially higher rates than white ones.
That’s indisputable.
When teachers send kids to the office, when principals issue detentions and suspensions, the faces of those students are disproportionately black or brown.
So what does that mean?
Are minority children more badly behaved than white ones?
Or is it an indication that our public schools are overrun with racist teachers and principals?
Those appear to be the only choices in Trump’s America.
There’s either something desperately wrong with children of color or the majority of white staff at public schools can’t handle them.
But the reality is far more complex, and no matter who you are, it will probably make you uncomfortable.
The problem is that there are variables the binary choice above doesn’t even begin to explain, and chief among them is child poverty.
In short, there are an awful lot of poor kids in America. And children living in poverty act out more than those living in CONTINUE READING: Racial Disparity in Student Discipline Isn’t All About Race | gadflyonthewallblog
