Giving Compass' Take:

• Black male students experience discipline at a considerably higher rate than the rest of the student body. Disadvantaged black boys, like foster youth, have an even higher rate of suspension. 

• How can policies be written to ensure equal application of school rules for all students? Can school training help to reduce the inequalities in punishment for black males? 

• Learn why some educators are calling for discipline instead of punishment in schools.

  • While 3.6% of all students were suspended in 2016-2017, the suspension rate for Black boys and young men was 12.8%.
  • Since 2011-2012, the suspension rates of Black males in California has declined from 17.8% to 12.8%.
  • The highest suspension disparity by grade level occurs in early childhood education (Grades K through 3) where Black boys are 5.6 times more likely to be suspended than the state average.
  • Black male students who are classified as “foster youth” are suspended at noticeably high rates, at 27.4%. Across all analyses, Black males who were foster youth in seventh and eighth grade represented the subgroup that had the highest percentage of Black male suspensions, at 41.0%.
  • The highest total suspensions occurred in large urban counties, such as Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Contra Costa County. In fact, these five counties alone account for 61% of Black male suspensions.
  • The highest suspension rates for Black males occur in rural counties that have smaller Black male enrollments. Other Counties with high suspension rates included Amador County, Colusa County, Del Norte County, and Tehama County. San Joaquin county has especially high suspension patterns. In the past 5 years, they have reported suspension rates at 20% or above. Four counties have reported similarly high suspension patterns across the past 4 of 5 years, they include: Modoc County, Butte County, Merced County, and Yuba County.
  • A number of districts have large numbers of Black boys and young men who were suspended at least once.
  • There are 10 school districts in the state with suspension rates above 30%. Of these, the highest suspension rates are reported at Bayshore Elementary (San Mateo County, at 50%), Oroville Union High (Butte County, at 45.2%), and the California School for the Deaf-Fremont (Alameda County, at 43.8%).