Political Insider

U. of Penn. study: 13 Southern states account for 55% of African-American school suspensions

JANUARY 23, 2015 ATLANTA School buses line up and transport students at North Atlanta High School Friday, January 23, 2015. Teacher groups and an association of student transportation in Georgia are mobilizing against Gov. Deal's budget proposal to eliminate health insurance for about 11,500 bus drivers, cafeteria workers and support staff. Many of these folks take these jobs to get the health insurance. Deal has proposed cutting the insurance for budgetary purposes since they work an average of less than 30 hours a week. In the case of bus drivers, many are concerned experienced drivers will quit and less experienced ones will be transporting students. 15 inches.012415 insurance - Teacher groups and an association of student transportation in Georgia are mobilizing against Gov. Deal's budget proposal to eliminate health insurance for about 11,500 bus drivers, cafeteria workers and support staff. Many of these folks take these jobs to get the health insurance. Deal has proposed cutting the insurance for budgetary purposes since they work an average of less than 30 hours a week. In the case of bus drivers, many are concerned experienced drivers will quit and less experienced ones will be transporting students. KENT D. JOHNSON/KDJOHNSON@AJC.COM School buses line up and transport students at North Atlanta High School. Kent D. Johnson, kdjohnson@ajc.com
JANUARY 23, 2015 ATLANTA School buses line up and transport students at North Atlanta High School Friday, January 23, 2015. Teacher groups and an association of student transportation in Georgia are mobilizing against Gov. Deal's budget proposal to eliminate health insurance for about 11,500 bus drivers, cafeteria workers and support staff. Many of these folks take these jobs to get the health insurance. Deal has proposed cutting the insurance for budgetary purposes since they work an average of less than 30 hours a week. In the case of bus drivers, many are concerned experienced drivers will quit and less experienced ones will be transporting students. 15 inches.012415 insurance - Teacher groups and an association of student transportation in Georgia are mobilizing against Gov. Deal's budget proposal to eliminate health insurance for about 11,500 bus drivers, cafeteria workers and support staff. Many of these folks take these jobs to get the health insurance. Deal has proposed cutting the insurance for budgetary purposes since they work an average of less than 30 hours a week. In the case of bus drivers, many are concerned experienced drivers will quit and less experienced ones will be transporting students. KENT D. JOHNSON/KDJOHNSON@AJC.COM School buses line up and transport students at North Atlanta High School. Kent D. Johnson, kdjohnson@ajc.com
By Jim Galloway
Aug 26, 2015

A draft of a new University of Pennsylvania study says that school systems in 13 Southern states account for more than half of all suspensions of African-American public school students in the U.S. From the report:

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.

And closer to home:

101,813 black students were suspended from Georgia K-12 public schools in a single academic year. Blacks were 37% of students in school districts across the state, but comprised 67% of suspensions and 64% of expulsions. Bremen City Schools, Chattooga County Schools, Commission Charter Schools - CCAT School, Jefferson City Schools, and Lumpkin County Schools are among districts in which suspensions most disproportionately affected black students.

The entire report is at your fingertips here:

About the Author

Jim Galloway, the newspaper’s former political columnist, was a writer and editor at the AJC for four decades.

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