The annual Safe Schools Data Project Report came out today. Here’s the WFPL story, and here’s a link to the study (PDF).
Violations of board of education rules were on the rise in Jefferson County schools (law violations were down). And if you turn to page 47 of the study, you can see the racial disparities in violations statewide. Center for School Safety director Jon Akers says the violations mirror crime rates outside of schools, but the data could be skewed in the report. For example, he says multiple incidents with students could be reported individually, and a misbehaving or frequently punished student could drive the rate up.
So it seems possible there’s a gap in punishment for students based on race, if some students are punished or reported less or more frequently than others. There’s not data for this, though.
