New report cites disproportionate punishment for black students

By Susan Ferriss
7:30 am, October 6, 2011 Updated: 7:30 am, October 6, 2011

In a troubling pattern mirrored elsewhere, black students in North Carolina schools were found to be subjected to far harsher discipline than other students for the same types of minor infractions, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Education Policy Center, a non-partisan research center that sponsors peer-reviewed research.   

For the first-time offense of cell phone use  at school, 32 percent of black students in North Carolina were given out-of-school suspension, school data collected in 2010 showed, while less than 15 percent of white students received that same punishment for the same offense. For a first-time offense of public display of affection, according to the report, almost 43 percent of the accused black students in North Carolina were given out-of-school suspension,  compared to about 15 percent of white students.