PHILLY.COM: …The report found the state’s 500 public school districts have dramatically increased their reliance on disciplinary practices like out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, leading to what study authors are calling “an educational crisis that goes far beyond the state’s largest school system in Philadelphia.” Pennsylvania school districts, in the 2011 through 2012 academic year alone, issued more than 166,000 out-of-school suspensions, amounting to 10 suspensions per 100 students. In addition, 1,808 students were expelled, while 5,261 were arrested by police…
The report found the incidence of out-of-school disciplinary actions to be wide-ranging, and not necessarily tied to school districts’ sizes. The York City School District, with an enrollment of just 5,196 students, in 2011 through 2012 led the state’s out-of-school suspension rates with 91.4 suspensions per 100 students. That’s four times higher than the suspension rate of the School District of Philadelphia, which saw 25.9 suspensions for every 100 of its 154,262 students…
The report further found those who tend to be the most disadvantaged when it comes to school services, including black, Latino and disabled students, were also the most likely to be booted out of class. While black youths in the 2011 through 2012 school year comprised just 13.6 percent of Pennsylvania students, they received 48.25 percent of the out-of-school suspensions handed down. Latinos, though they made up 8.4 percent of students, received 14.5 percent of all out-of-school suspensions. Ten out of every 100 Latino students in the state were suspended at least once, amounting to one of the highest Latino suspension rates in the country… (more)
