When it comes to discipline, Oklahoma schools may need some disciplining of their own. A new report from the US Commission on Civil Rights has found that Oklahoma students face a stark racial disparity when it comes to discipline, reports News 9 Oklahoma.
In a scathing indictment, the federal commission noted that students of color are five times more likely to be suspended from school than white students. This disparity creates what the report calls a “school-to-prison-pipeline” for a whole generation of black and Latino students.
The reasons for the disparity? There are a few, according to the report. These include student poverty, implicit teacher bias and exclusionary discipline policies already at work in schools. “They just basically drop out,” said committee member Brian Corpening. “The result of that is they them become engaged in the criminal justice system where they would go to prison.”