Like every school system, the Ann Arbor Public School District has discipline problems. One common solution - out-of-school suspension - recently came under fire by the Equity Audit Committee formed by the Ann Arbor School Board. Their main concerns come from disparate suspension rates among different racial groups. In 1995-96, there were 18.7 suspensions per 100 African-American students while only 3.8 per 100 white students went home for unscheduled vacations.
According to EAC, the reasons behind different suspension rates goes beyond simple misbehavior among African-American students. The committee points to a perceived inclination among the predominately white teachers and administrators to treat minorities differently than whites. Furthermore, it suggests the district's staff also exhibits condescending behavior toward the parents of minorities, perpetuating negative stereotypes.
Taken as a whole, these attitudes create an environment in which minority children are more likely to face suspension than their white counterparts, even for similar offenses. During the 1995-96 school year, 51 percent of all middle- and high-school suspensions in the district went to African-American students.
At the same time, there is a large achievement gap between white and minority students in the school system as measured by standardized test scores and GPAs. EAC accuses the school district's disciplinary policies and suspension practices with exacerbating the achievement difference between races.
Ample evidence exists showing a strong correlation between attendance and achievement in the classroom. Sending a child home therefore necessarily disrupts an education. If the suspended student is troubled - perhaps most in need of the education - or a minority student, suspension can be a damaging and hurtful cycle. On one hand, teachers remove a student from the classroom setting for their unwillingness to obey the rules. While some may argue that the suspensions are warranted because suspended students could disrupt others' education, out-of-school suspension may cause students to feel alienated from the educational environment. By sending offenders home, administrators deny the suspended the chance to learn - further limiting their educational opportunities.
As minorities are suspended at a far greater rate than white students, their grades and performance on standardized tests suffer, as a group. Thus, the achievement gap grows.
In an effort to combat the problems, EAC made a number of suggestions. Foremost, the school district needs to explore alternative disciplinary actions such as in-school suspensions - allowing students to attend classes while serving out their punishment. Making anger resolution and conflict-resolution courses available to disruptive, suspended students could also reduce the need to forcibly remove them from the educational atmosphere. EAC also recommended teachers undergo diversity training, to allow more sensitivity toward minority students and parents.
The school district should heed these recommendations and take a long hard look at their disciplinary policies. Faced with enormous budget cuts, the district may not be able to implement all of EAC's ideas. However, the district cannot afford to continue using policies that creates more problems than they solve.
06-04-97
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