Oklahoma City Public Schools Agree to Address Racial Unbalance in School Discipline

Dept_of_Education_LogoThe United States Department of Education has reached an agreement with the Oklahoma City Public School System over a complaint that Black students were significantly more likely than other students to be disciplined.

After a complaint was filed, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights initiated an investigation that found that Black students were considerably overrepresented in all of the district’s disciplinary actions. For example, Black students accounted for 42 percent of in-school suspensions although they represent only 26 percent of the population. Likewise, Black students received in-school and out-of-school suspensions, were referred to law enforcement, and were arrested for school-related incidents at statistically significant higher rates compared to their enrollment in the district.

A copy of the agreement can be found here.

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