As we’ve seen in recent years, the many ways in which racism can weave its way into the fabric of U.S. public education is both maddening and depressing. Racial disparities impact non-white students at every level, with a new report highlighting how the discipline is disproportionate toward Black girls in school.
The 85-page study, recently released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, was conducted during the 2017-2018 school year, with researchers analyzing discipline-related data from every public school and school district (preschool–12th grade) across all 50 states. This mandatory data—captured once every two years—encompasses categories of discipline: out-of-school suspensions, in-school suspensions, referrals to law enforcement, expulsions, corporal punishment, and school-related arrests.
Researchers found that Black girls received nearly half of all recorded punishments, despite representing just 15% of girls attending public schools. Black girls accounted for 45% of out-of-school suspensions, 37% of in-school suspensions, and 43% of expulsions for actions in public schools labeled as “defiance, disrespect, and disruption.” Black girls in public schools received exclusionary discipline—that is, a student being removed from their typical learning environment—at rates of more than five times their white counterparts.
What’s more, Black girls faced higher rates of exclusionary discipline if they had a disability, as well as more severe punishment if they identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community, due to dress code-related infractions and/or public displays of affection.
The study was commissioned by Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, and it’s one of few so far to shed light on the unjust treatment of Black girls with regards to fair discipline in schools. Some reasons behind the disparities include adultification, in which Black girls are viewed as older and more promiscuous than their non-Black peers, and therefore treated more punitively. Stereotype-based colorism also comes into play, as students with darker skin are treated unfairly by teachers and staff for no real reason other than racism.
Not only will this unwarranted discipline affect a student’s education, the ripple effects of structural racism in schools can leave Black girls feeling unsafe and unprotected, and less likely to attend school regularly, limiting their opportunities and prospects in the future. The impacts on their mental health and confidence can stay with them for years or decades to come. School administrators are failing Black girls, and they deserve so much more. Every child should feel safe, empowered, cared for, and connected at school, but it’s far too often that those in our most marginalized communities are deliberately—and grotesquely—mistreated.
