Racial disparities in school discipline have been a focal point over the past decade, with slow progress in effecting change. Black students continue to face higher rates of suspension, expulsion, and transfers to alternative schools compared to their peers. This issue, highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement and a push for racial justice in schools, has brought attention to the concept of the “school-to-prison pipeline”, which suggests a connection between harsh school discipline and future involvement in the criminal justice system.

While there has been some improvement in reducing suspension rates for Black students in states like Missouri and California, significant disparities persist. In Georgia, despite making up only a third of the student population, Black students receive a disproportionate amount of punitive actions that remove them from the classroom. The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges, with some schools resorting to stricter discipline measures and increased police involvement as they grapple with post-lockdown behavioral issues.

Students who face exclusionary discipline measures are at a higher risk of repeat suspensions, disconnection from school, and poor academic outcomes. Despite federal guidelines issued during the Obama administration to address these racial disparities, subsequent rollbacks under the Trump administration have left the responsibility for collecting discipline data to federal and state civil rights regulations.

In states like Minnesota, where Black students receive a higher share of expulsions and suspensions compared to their white peers, efforts to address these disparities have been ongoing. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights intervened in 2017 after finding that a majority of disciplinary consequences issued for subjective reasons were disproportionately affecting students of color. This highlights a systemic issue where students of color often face harsher punishments for similar behaviors compared to white students.

The ongoing struggle to address racial disparities in school discipline underscores the need for continued advocacy, policy reform, and enforcement of regulations aimed at creating a more equitable and inclusive educational system.