Carmel, Ind., is one of the nation’s most affluent suburbs. Even for African-American families, where median Black family income is $114,028.
Despite two parent homes, affluent Black families with children, new data released by the federal government show that Black students in the Carmel public schools as well as other districts in Indianapolis’ suburbs, are disproportionately disciplining Black students at higher rates than other races.
That’s the results of an Indianapolis Recorder analysis of massive amounts of data on student discipline statistics for every school and school district in America.
What the analysis showed was that Black students in school districts serving Indianapolis’ affluent suburbs – Carmel, Mt. Vernon and Hamilton Southeastern schools – suspended and expelled African-American students at rates far higher than their percentage in the total student population.
This new data was released March 21 jointly by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education.
In a statement, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said “This data collection shines a clear, unbiased light on places that are delivering on the promise of an equal education for every child and places where the largest gaps remain.”
Attorney General Eric Holder commented, “This critical report shows that racial disparities in school discipline policies are not only well-documented among older students, but actually begin during preschool.”
The detailed data is from the 2011-2012 school year and is the first comprehensive look at civil rights data in the nation’s public schools in 15 years.
The Recorder examined district data and data for key charter schools in Marion County along with the Indiana Schools for the Blind and Deaf. The analysis looked at the percentage of African-American students in the district/school and compared it with the percentage of African-Americans students who received in-school suspensions, out of school suspensions and expulsions.
As an explanation, if a school’s overall enrollment was 20 percent Black, and their percentage of Black students discipline was near that total, we’d say discipline was proportional.
But if, as an example, the data showed that 40 percent of those disciplined were Black, then the data shows that discipline was racially disproportionate.
We then divided the actual racial percentage of Blacks disciplined with their percent in the total enrollment to compile disproportionally indexes for each disciplinary category and an overall average.
Carmel-Clay Schools had the highest index of racial disproportionality with Black students being discipline at rates 3.9 times their percentage in the student body. Second highest was Mt. Vernon School Corp. in Hancock County (3.4 times), then Hamilton Southeastern Schools (3.2 times), Franklin Township Schools (2.9 times) and Speedway Schools (2.6 times).
The districts with the highest percentage of Black students, Pike and IPS, had far lower indexes of disproportionate discipline with Blacks being disciplined at 1.3 times their percentage of enrollment in Pike and 1.4 times in IPS.
Five charter schools had the lowest percentages of disparate discipline for Black students. Southeast School of Excellence was the lowest at 0.5 times, followed by Indiana Math and Science West (0.6 times), KIPP and Indianapolis Lighthouse (0.7 times each) Imagine West (0.9 times) and Flanner House and Charles Tindley (1.0 times).
Looking at individual types of school discipline, the pattern is similar with the suburban county schools exhibiting higher levels of apparent racially disproportionate punishment.
Mt. Vernon Schools had the highest ratio of Blacks given in-school suspensions (4.9 times) followed by Carmel-Clay (3.6 times), Hamilton Southeastern (3.1 times), Franklin Township (3.1 times), Brownsburg (2.9 times) and Avon (2.63 times).
In the out of school suspension category, there were similar patterns. Carmel-Clay had the highest (3.6 times) followed surprisingly by the Indiana School for the Deaf where Black students there receiving out of school suspensions at 3 times their percentage in the student body.
Third highest disproportionate out of school suspension rate for Blacks was Hamilton Southeastern and Franklin Township (2.9 times), then Beech Grove (2.7 times).
When it came to expulsions, Carmel-Clay again had the highest ratio of Black suspensions compared to their size of the student population. Carmel expelled Black students at a rate of 4.7 times their population. Higher than any district or school surveyed by the Recorder. Next was Speedway (3.9 times), then Hamilton Southeastern (3.5 times), Franklin Township and Mt. Vernon (2.9 times each).
The full database for every public school and school district in Indiana and the nation can be viewed at crdc.ed.gov.
